Reviewer Requests
by Fergus Flamacron
Summary: New oneshot for WhiteWolfPrincess95. In which her OC, Lily, and her Digimon partner Renamon, as well as Tai, Agumon and their nemesis, Myotismon, are flung into the Star Wars world around the middle of "Secret of the 327th." What madness shall ensue?
1. No Knowing Where You Might Be Swept Off

Okay, let the oneshots begin. To be honest these are a little longer than the usual oneshot, but they will be no longer than the usual chapters of Secret of the 327th. My first oneshot is dedicated to and chosen by Tamara Caitlyn – because she was my 50th reviewer for A Sticky Situation.

One note that I should make is that this oneshot works under the assumption that the Digimon Adventure and the Digimon Tamer universes are actually combined and there is no such thing as the TV show in the Tamers world. Just a note to stop people from getting confused. It also has a little connection to A Sticky Situation, but nothing to do with Secret of the 327th or any sequels.

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* * *

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Every Fifty

**Oneshot 1:- There's No Knowing Where You Might Be Swept Off Too**

**Rating:- K+**

**Worlds:- Digimon Tamers, Digimon Adventure 02**

* * *

"And this is where the battle took place?"

"Oh yes. Henry told me all about it. This is where that big snake guy came through to our world and started wrecking everything."

"You mean Sandiramon?"

"Yeah, him."

"He seemed to be a very nice guy when we met him, though?"

"Yeah, he is nice," said Suzie Wong. "Henry told me that he's not evil, but he thought that he was doing good by destroying us all 'cause the big turkey hated humans?"

"But why?" asked Ai, her brother Mako nodding enthusiastically.

"I don't know," shrugged Suzie. "Zhuqs never actually mentioned why he doesn't like humans. But the Devas were really looking for Calumon so that they could get his help in beating the big jell-o blob, the D-Reaper, when it came into their world."

"Wow," Mako looked up at the ceiling. The three children were standing in the underground train station where Sandiramon had faced off against Gargomon, Kyubimon and Growlmon well over a year ago. Since then, the hole in the ceiling that Growlmon had dug had long since been repaired, and another train had replaced the one that Sandiramon had dissolved with his breath. Adult humans walked to and fro, bustling about on daily routines and none of them giving a thought to the terrific spectacle that had occurred here. Perhaps they didn't know – the Tamers had made a point of quickly becoming scarce after battle situations in those days.

To an extent, they still did.

Suzie, Ai and Mako had decided to come and explore all these separate areas that the Tamers had battled in. Ordinarily, any children their age would not be allowed out on their own, but their parents had both relented, albeit very grudgingly by their parents, especially the twins' mother, that since they had a pair of Digimon looking after them they would be fine.

Right now, Lopmon and Impmon were both nowhere to be seen, although the three children knew exactly where they were. Impmon was in the queue to an ice-cream stall outside, waiting impatiently to be allowed to order the biggest one they had – whatever it was. The people in the line in front of him kept casting anxious glances at him, and for good reason. Impmon was not known for his patience, but was known for his over-the-top methods of venting his spleen.

Fortunately for them, Lopmon was keeping an eye on him, just in case he decided to get to the front of the queue by setting fire to somebody's trousers. He had been known to do that. But the Tamers were by no means abandoned. Lopmon's psychic link with Suzie ensured that she kept an eye on what they were doing at all times.

Ai, Mako and Suzie picked their way through the throngs of people. A few of them stopped to look at the three little children who were seemingly without a guardian of any kind, but the confident demeanour of the children was enough the make them think that they were being watched and weren't lost. If they were they'd be cowering and whimpering, of that they were sure, and they went on their way again.

A train blared into the station. The hair on all three kids was blown backwards by its arrival and they watched as the huge, giant, snake-like, metal machine hissed and grated its way to a stop. The doors slid opened and there was a rush of people filing out, followed by a rush of people filing in.

"Our mum doesn't trust trains," said Mako. "She says that they're always a few minutes slower than they should be and that they're much less reliable than having a car in your driveway."

"Well, we don't have a driveway," said Suzie. "We use public transport like this all the time. It's quite a bit of fun actually. Whenever a train starts, you almost fall over if you're standing up. It's quite fun. And it happens again when you stop."

The train doors closed and the huge, mechanical beast began to move along again and into the tunnels.

_Okay, Suzie,_ came Lopmon's voice in her brain. _I reckon you've spent long enough in there. It's getting pretty late and you should really get the twins back home before their mother begins to worry. Impmon says she worries far too much about everything._

"Lopmon says it's time to go," said Suzie. Ai and Mako both grinned. They were still getting used to the idea of Suzie and her partner being able to communicate without vocal chords – or whatever it was that a Digimon used. Both were marginally disappointed – they'd actually been having a good time, but this was more due to the fact that they were being allowed out alone like adults than the exciting locations.

"Alright," said Ai, sighing. "Let's go."

As they headed back to the stairs, another train on the opposite side decided to come juddering into the station. The three children paid it no mind and began to the thread their way past it and through the throngs of people waiting to get on it. And that was where everything went wrong.

As the people coming out of the train left, the people that the three children were attempting to move through decided now would be a good time to board the train before the doors shut. With cries of surprised as they were bumped by legs, the three small children suddenly found themselves being carried along in a throng of legs. All three turned to fight the tide, but before they knew it, they'd been carried right into the train – Ai tripping on the gap between the it and the station.

"Hey, wait!" Suzie cried as the doors clanged shut behind them. The train shuddered and began to move. The three children had been more focused on getting to the door and all three suddenly lost their centre of gravity, and fell flat on their backs among the rush hour crowds. The train pulled into the tunnels.

And outside, the people leapt to one side as a brown bunny suddenly swept right over their heads and into the station, while a small, purple creature roughly knocked their legs aside as he barged his way through after the bunny. The ice-cream held in its gloved hand was tossed aside and splodged against the expensive suit of a businessman, but the Digimon didn't care.

Lopmon landed on the edge of the platform, mentally hitting herself as she watched the train pull out of sight. Impmon ran up to stand next to her and swore loudly, causing several adults to cover the ears of small children.

_Why didn't I see that coming?_ Lopmon gritted her teeth. Then she opened her mind and called, _Terriermon?_

_What?_ Came her brother's reply.

_We've got a bit of a situation here._

* * *

Terriermon frowned. He'd been having a very good time today. While Suzie and his sister were off on their little exploratory trip, Henry and he had gone to see Rika and Renamon. Rika and Henry were currently inside eating a meal that Seiko had cooked for them and feeding scraps to an eager jackal called Isis. But he was lying on Renamon's stomach and Renamon was lying on a tree branch. The two of them were just relaxing and hadn't said anything for a while. Well, not out loud anyway.

Then, suddenly, Lopmon had made contact with him.

_What situation?_ Terriermon was instantly alert.

_It's Suzie. She, Ai and Mako have got on a train and it's taking them to who knows where._

"What!" Terriermon shouted aloud, sitting up sharply. Renamon also sat up quickly, what with being privy to everything her mate was hearing.

_Lopmon,_ thought Renamon. _Tell to get off at the next station. Hurry! We need to find them soon._

_We'll get Henry,_ Terriermon leapt into the air. _Let's get moving._

They both heard Lopmon send the message urgently to Suzie. _Suzie!_ She cried mentally. _Don't stay on the train. Get off at the very next station! You hear me, Suzie. Don't stay on the train!_

* * *

Suzie, Ai and Mako sat up – Mako rubbing his head from where it had hit the train floor. Ai sprang up and whispered, "Oh no! Now what are we going to do?"

"Mum's gonna be so mad," agreed Mako.

"I don't know," Suzie hissed agitatedly. Without Lopmon nearby she suddenly felt very, very vulnerable. She was stuck on a train with no way off until they came to another station, and was surrounded by people she didn't know. Everyone, including Lopmon, had told her to be wary of strangers when they weren't around, and Suzie was uncomfortably reminded of Goro – she still didn't know the full extent of what had gone on in that house, as everybody had yet to tell her but still...

_Suzie!_ Came the voice of her partner, but it was muffled and rather faint. Unlike Rika and Renamon, who could sense and talk to each other from great distances, the mental bonds between Suzie and Lopmon andbetween Henry and Terriermon were still developing. They could communicate over short distances, but not very well over greater ones.

Suzie listened so hard, her ears hurt, despite the fact that her ears were not actually needed. She heard Lopmon's frantic calling. It sounded suspiciously like:-

_Don't...get off... the train!_

Suzie blinked. Surely the first and most important thing to do was to get off the train at the first opportunity, otherwise it would carry them to who-knew-where? Why was Lopmon asking her to stay on board? And she assumed that Ai and Mako should do the same.

But, Suzie reasoned, Lopmon had a much more level head than she did. Perhaps it would be best to follow Lopmon's advise. She was, after all, much more experienced than Suzie. And she must have made contact with Terriermon and Renamon by now so... well, she'd stay on the train.

_Suzie... you..._

Suddenly it stopped. The train was moving at such speeds that the Tamer and the Digimon had just lost contact with one another. Suzie felt very, very alone now. She had Ai and Mako, but they were even younger than she was. What chance did the three of them have of dealing with any threat that they came across.

"Guys," she said, as Ai and Mako stared imploringly up at the door, as if willing it to open. "Lopmon says that we should stay on the train."

The twins turned to face her with expressions of incredulity. "Why?" asked Ai. "Why can't we get off as soon as we can? This isn't fun anymore. This is scary."

"I don't know," said Suzie. "But don't you think it'd be a good idea to listen to Lopmon? She is our leader."

That was true. Both families had felt better at the idea of Lopmon being in charge instead of Impmon for obvious reasons.

"But Ai's right," said Mako. "All these big grown-ups are really scary."

Suzie frowned. "Lopmon said, so we should do it," she insisted.

Both Ai and Mako nodded uncertainly and the three children went to find a corner to huddle in.

* * *

Henry Wong, Suzie's older brother, had hastily logged onto the Nonaka house computer and his fingers were flying over the keyboard and hitting the buttons as if they had minds of their own. Rika looked anxiously over his shoulder, while Terriermon looked anxiously _on_ his shoulder. Renamon, Rumiko and Seiko hovered in the background.

"Okay," Henry said. "What was the line that they left on?"

"Lopmon's quizzed some of the passengers that got of it and they said it was the Öedo line," said Terriermon. "The one that shows up as pink on all the underground maps."

"Alright," said Henry, "And since they were at the station that we fought Sandiramon at that means they were at the Nishi-shinjuku-gochöme station. Did Lopmon tell them to get off at the next station along?"

"Yep," said Terriermon. "We just need to hope they got the message before they went too far away."

"What's the next station, then?" asked Rika. Henry jabbed a finger at the screen.

"This one," he declared. "The Tochömae station. It's not all that far away." Henry leapt up from his seat so fast that Terriermon went flying off and had to catch himself in mid-air. "Terriermon, tell Lopmon to start making her way there with Impmon. We'll meet her there."

"Let's go, Renamon," Rika nodded, following Henry out of the door. She took out a card and swiped it through her D-Arc. Renamon burst into a golden light and shouted:-

"**RENAMON DIGIVOLVE TO... KYUBIMON!"**

Terriermon swooped through the doorway, having just sent a message via his brain straight to Lopmon's and landed on his mate's back. Rika leapt aboard with practiced ease, and she pulled Henry on after her. Kyubimon's digital muscles rippled and she took off with a flying leap, sprinting out of the gate, swerving dangerously around the corner and streaking off in the direction of the station.

"I hope Suzie and the others did get off the train in time," said Henry.

"Momentai, Henry," Terriermon called back from the front. "We'll find them."

"Even if we have turn the whole underground system inside out," added Kyubimon without breaking her stride.

"I've no doubt of that," said Henry, "but all the same, Tokyo is not city for little children to be wandering around on their own."

"Good thing they won't be alone for long the, isn't it," said Rika. "Keep going, Kyubimon."

"Never a dull moment," quipped Terriermon as they hurtled along.

Lopmon soared down the street, with Impmon in hot pursuit on the ground. "This is not fair, you know!" he called up to her. "You could always slow down a little couldn't you?"

* * *

"Our partners are in trouble, Impmon," said Lopmon over her shoulder. "I think we're going to slow as it is."

"Too slow?" Impmon was beginning to pant now. "I don't think I've... ever run... so far... at this speed... in all... my life, and you... think... we should be... going faster?"

"Yes," said Lopmon.

"Well, maybe... if I could fly... we could be going faster," Impmon scowled up at her. "I'm not... Kyubimon. I'm gonna run... out of steam."

"Impmon." Despite the situation, Lopmon couldn't help but grin. "Do the words Beelzemon Blast Mode give you a hint as to how we could go faster?"

Impmon pulled to a halt completely and stared at Lopmon, gobsmacked. "And you think... to mention it now?" he panted.

"Well, to be honest I was wondering why you hadn't done it yet."

Impmon scowled at her, but had to admit that he'd been officiously made to look like a bit of an idiot. He folded his arms and glared at Lopmon with an expression that hinted of some peeve. Then, that expression was hidden from view as he burst into golden light, causing many nearby people to stop what they were doing in surprise.

"**IMPMON WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO... BEELZEMON BLAST MODE!"**

The tall, leather-clad Mega level was now standing in the street. His wings flexed as he spread them, the black feathers shining as if they'd been covered in shoe polish and they flapped, lifting him off the ground. Lopmon turned and shot away at a greater speed, with Beelzemon right behind her.

* * *

The people in the Tochömae station received a shock when a huge, biker-like man with wings swept through the doors and down the stairs, with a small, brown bunny on his shoulder. Alarmed at the shotguns he was toting around, they turned to flee, and moments later they were confronted by a large fox with nine tails, another bunny on its back and two human children, which pushed unceremoniously past them and down onto the station.

"Suzie's not here," Lopmon said agitatedly as they were joined by the others. "I'd know straight away if she was."

"You reckon she could be nearby?" asked Beelzemon.

"I doubt it," Lopmon grimaced. "She couldn't have gone very far and I'm sure I would be picking her up with my mind."

"So she's probably still on the train," said Kyubimon. "And that means that Ai and Mako are probably still with her."

"Well, that's helpful," muttered Beelzemon darkly. "We've only got a couple of dozen more stations to check before we reach the end of the line, and they would probably have at least got off by then."

"I hate to put a damper on your cheerful spirit," said Henry bitterly. "But the Öedo line doesn't have an end point. It goes round and round and meets up where it started."

"Marvellous," muttered Rika. "So, what do we do now?"

"We keep looking," said Lopmon. "Beelzemon and I will head one way and see if we can pick up any signs of them. You guys go the other way and do an actual search. We need to find them as soon as possible, so we'll head the way they actually went."

"Let's move!" Kyubimon veered around and dashed back up the stairs. Beelzemon was hot on her heels.

* * *

An hour passed. The Digimon and the Tamers became increasingly frantic as they checked station after station across the line that was Suzie's favourite colour on all the maps. Each time, they came up short. There was no way of contacting Suzie, Ai and Mako, wherever they were – none of them had had a phone of any kind on them.

As for the children themselves, it took roughly an hour before the twins finally snapped. They'd been huddled on the train for such a long time that they'd felt they were there for an eternity. Hey, they were children. Time passes much more slowly for children.

Mako suddenly cried. "I can't do this. It's way too scary. Can we just get off at the next station?"

"But Lopmon said..."

"I don't care. I agree with Mako," Ai nodded. "I don't like this. I'm not good with strangers."

Suzie sighed. Truth be told, she was almost as terrified as they were, but she was doing her best not to show it, considering she was a little older for them, and therefore felt responsible. Surely Lopmon would understand their need to be in the open. The little girl nodded slowly. "Okay, let's do it."

Ai and Mako perked up immediately and the three made their way to the nearest door. Sure enough, it slowly ground to a halt and they pitched to the side as they lost their sense of gravity again. But they quickly regained it and dashed straight onto the platform before anyone could board the train and push them back on.

Suzie pulled to a halt, but started running again when Ai and Mako ran right past her, towards the stairs that led out of the station. She glanced briefly at the large sign on the wall that indicated which station they were at. It read "Kachidoki."

Ai and Mako only stopped when they were out of the station. Suzie stopped next to them and the three stood there, panting for a time and regaining their breath. Mako was the first to speak. He said, "I'm never going to ride on another train again as long as I live."

"Me neither." Ai shook her head. "I'll just learn to drive or something. Or I could ask Beelzemon to take us somewhere on Behemoth."

"But Mum never lets us ride on Behemoth," pointed out Mako.

"So? I'd rather a psycho bike than a train."

Suzie looked around. They were in a completely unfamiliar part of the city. Tokyo was pretty big, but she'd never been all around it before. But there was something that she could smell. It took her a couple of seconds to remember, but it was the smell of the ocean. The sea wasn't that far away.

"So what do we do now?" Mako asked. Suzie realized the two of them were looking to her for guidance.

She bit her lip and said, "Have any of you got any money for a phone?"

The twins shook their heads.

"Have you got any phones at all?"

Suzie gritted her teeth. She looked at the sky. It was not very bright and the sun was setting. Although she didn't know it, it was nearing eight o'clock in the evening. She'd lost track of time some time ago.

"Lopmon and Impmon will come for us eventually," said Suzie. "We need to find somewhere to stay while they look for us. Somewhere where we'll be safe."

"Such as where?" asked Ai.

"I don't know. I don't know. Let's just... go somewhere."

With that, the three children set off towards the smell of the sea.

* * *

Hikari Kamiya, known to all and sundry as Kari – a lot of the Digi-destined shortened their names – was sitting on her bed and stretching. Having just changed into her pyjamas, the thirteen-year-old girl was preparing to go to bed and was wondering when her older brother Tai was going to walk into the room and ruin the peace and quiet.

"Well, I guess it could have been worse," she said, referring to the test that she'd taken at school earlier that day. It had been a Biology test and she felt that she could have done much better, except she could practically feel the eyes of her fellow Digi-destined, Davis, on the back of her head. It was no secret that he fancied her, but he had yet to learn the meaning of the word subtlety. Kari had been pretty sure the boy hadn't even looked at his paper throughout.

"You'll definitely get a better mark than Davis," said the small, white cat sitting beside her. A cat with purple, tufted ears, a long striped tail with a ring around it and tiger-like gloves with three long claws on each hand.

"I know, Gatomon" said Kari. "He'll get a big, fat zero. He should really focus more on his studies."

"That's not going to happen if you're ever in the same room," Gatomon remarked.

Kari sighed again. "I think he's getting a bit restless. It's been some time since we took out MaloMyotismon, and nothings been wrong in the Digital World, or our world since then."

"It was pretty weird, though," said Gatomon. "Remember when we all came back from that big vacation and people were talking about a huge Demon Digimon attacking the city."

"Don't remind me," Kari chuckled. "I don't know what was worse – Davis whining that he missed the action or Yolei demanding where it was right now and refusing to believe it."

Gatomon nodded and the two of them lapsed into silence again. Then, the Champion level cat said, "I hope you don't mind, Kari, but I'd quite like to stretch my legs a little."

"By all means," smiled Kari to her partner. "Who am I to stop you?"

"Thanks, Kari." Gatomon hopped off the bed and leapt gracefully onto the windowsill. With a gloved paw, she pushed the window open and pounced outside. She landed on the nearby drainpipe and slid down it with ease, until she came to the ground. Then she dropped to all fours and bounded away.

Nobody paid any attention to her. Gatomon had become a common sight in the area and everybody knew she bore them no ill will. Gatomon liked this – it meant she had free range of the city.

Gatomon spent the next few hours hopping around the city. She stopped to stare at the moon a couple of times, and occasionally ran down clothes lines. She bounded from roof to roof and leapt across the streets with ease.

When she arrived back at the apartment building where she now lived with Kari, she saw something which made her stop and look. She approached the main entrance to the lobby and looked in. The lights were still on – although that in itself was no surprise, because although most of the people in Kari's building were tenants, there were also a good number of visitors.

What she had noticed was the three little children who were standing in the lobby. There didn't appear to be any adults there, and Gatomon knew the faces of all the locals by now, but she didn't recognise any of them. Her eyes narrowed. Why would there be three kids on their own with no visible protection.

The only feasible explanation was that they were lost.

Gatomon pushed open the door and peered in. The three children were sitting, huddled, on one of the cushioned seats that the apartment provided. There was no sign of the attendant at the desk – he only came out if somebody rang the bell, and it was clear that the children had not done that. The smallest girl and the boy, who was even smaller, were crying. The other girl looked a little older, and was doing her best to comfort her.

Gatomon frowned. It was obvious these three were terrified, so throwing a talking cat into the mix was probably not going to help them get any better. For that reason, she went outside and began to climb up towards her apartment to get Kari.

_

* * *

_

I really need a pair of earmuffs,

Kari thought to herself, at the sounds of Tai and Agumon's uproarious snoring from the bunk above her. How they managed to sleep themselves was anyone's guess. Only the goggleheaded Digi-destined seemed to snore, and Davis' partner Veemon had done just that, claiming he was getting much better sleep by blocking his ears.

"Kari," said Gatomon, as she hopped through the window. "You better come and see this."

"What is it?" Kari sat up. "A Digimon?"

Gatomon shook her head. "No, just some kids."

Kari raised an eyebrow. "How do you mean?"

"Down in the lobby," said Gatomon, pointing down at the floor pointlessly. "There are three little children down there. They look younger than you were when I first met you and I think their lost."

Kari's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh no. Are they alright?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask," said Gatomon. "You want to go down and talk to them?"

Kari nodded and stood up. She didn't bother trying to be quiet as she left the room – Tai and Agumon slept like logs. She ran to the front door, with Gatomon on her heels. Pulling on her shoes, which looked completely out of place considering she was wearing her pyjamas and opened the door.

Gatomon overtook her and the two took the stairs down. When they reached the lobby, Gatomon hopped up onto the nearby sofa and wordlessly pointed across the room at the three children.

* * *

Suzie, Ai and Mako were terrified. They'd just seen a television report on the TV that was situated high up in the room – the one that was declaring them missing. They had seen Mrs. Wong appear on the screen and beg that if anyone could find their children, that they contact them straight away. Then there had been pictures of their own faces.

A moment later on the screen, there had been shots of the other Tamers and the Digimon searching for them. Beelzemon had been glimpsed flying down the street. Another shot had seen Kyubimon zoom by. And the thought of being unable to contact them and tell them where they were was incomprehensible to the three of them.

Suzie was trying desperately not to show her fear and trepidation, but she wasn't succeeding very well. She wished that she had Impmon's ability to cheer up Ai and Mako, or Lopmon's ability to assess the situation, but she was a bit young for that kind of thing at the moment.

"Hello there."

All three jumped and turned to see a girl. She looked to be about Henry and Rika's age, with brown hair with a red hairclip and equally brown eyes. She was wearing pyjamas which, Suzie couldn't help but notice, were her favourite colour.

"Are you lost?" asked the girl.

Suzie nodded mutely. She'd been told that talking to strangers was not a good idea, but she couldn't see anything threatening about this girl.

"What are your names?" asked the girl, while the twins just stared at her as if she was some odd creature or something.

"Um..." Suzie faltered, but she had to take charge of the situation. For Ai and Mako. "Suzie," she said. "And this is Ai and Mako."

"It's nice to meet you," the girl knelt down so as to appear smaller and more friendly. "My name's Kari. Where are your parents?"

"At home," said Suzie.

"And where do you live?"

"Shinjuku."

"Oh," Kari raised her eyebrows. "That's quite a way into the city. How did you get out here?"

"Train," muttered Suzie. "We got pushed onto the train and got off here."

"Well, if you like you can come back to my place for the night," Kari smiled in a friendly way. "Then we can take you back home to Shinjuku in the morning."

Suzie looked at the stranger. She seemed friendly enough, and surely spending time in a house was better than being alone out in a lobby. Granted, they hadn't been kicked out of this place yet, but they'd already been kicked out several places they were trying to shelter. But this girl was offering.

Kari smiled and stood up, offering her hand out to them. Suzie took it, and Ai and Mako took hers at the same time. Kari sent a look across the room, and Suzie was sure she spotted a white flash disappearing through the door. She frowned, but dismissed it.

Kari led them through the door and up a flight of stairs, until they reached an apartment building. Kari pulled a blanket out of a cupboard, and laid it out across the sofa. She watched as the children huddled under it.

"Do you know your phone numbers?" she asked. "We can tell your parents that your safe."

But all three shook their heads. All three had been constantly told that remembering their phone numbers would be a good idea, and all three vowed then and there that when they got home, they would do just that.

* * *

Lopmon sighed. The search was not going well. Hours had now passed, and they must have searched every single station on the whole line, so unless the children were still on the train going round and round, they'd probably got off somewhere, and had walked out of range before she could detect them. She began wishing that she had some kind of D-Arc with the arrow to point to them, just as Suzie's pointed to her.

Beelzemon's fist hammered into a lamppost in frustration. The entire pole bent under the force and folded so much that the Mega had to throw out a hand and catch it before it clonked him in the head. "Well, this is just great," he growled. "Mrs. Terada's not going to trust me with a waffle iron after this."

"She trusted you with a waffle iron before?" asked Terriermon.

"No, but that's not the point."

"Alright," said Henry, holding up his hands. "So we can safely say that Suzie, Ai and Mako must have got off somewhere along the line, although we don't know where. Wherever they are, they're too far away for Lopmon to sense and that means that we're going to have to resort to a more conventional means of finding them."

"What do you have in mind?" asked Renamon.

"We need Guilmon," said Henry. "His nose is second-to-none. If we can get him to help us out, he can sniff them out and follow a trail."

"Good point," said Terriermon. "Suzie doesn't know her home number and she sure as hell can't use a map, even if she had one. Looks like the Über-sniffer's gonna have to trek round the city until he finds a -sniffer's gonna have to trek round the city until he finds a trail."

"Right then," said Beelzemon. "Let's get Pineapple-head down here."

"I'll give Takato a call," Henry pulled out his phone. "He's not gonna appreciate me calling him in the middle of the night but..."

"No need," Beelzemon said. "'S'been taken care of." Everyone turned to look at him with quizzical expressions. But Beelzemon just grinned evilly and said, "Don't worry. They should be here soon."

* * *

Takato Matsuki opened his eyes. Blinking sleep from his eyes, he sat up in bed and listened. He's been sure that he heard something, which had woken him up, but he wasn't sure what it had been.

"Guilmon," he whispered.

"Brreeeaad!" muttered the dinosaur curled up on the floor beside him. They'd tried sharing the bed, but Guilmon's preferred method of sleeping took up three-quarters of the space and occasionally he would roll over and knocked Takato out, so they'd agreed the floor would be better.

"Guilmon!" Takato said, louder. Guilmon's yellow eyes opened.

"Hmm?" he asked sleepily.

"Did you hear something?"

Guilmon's eyes narrowed. "No," he muttered. "I was eating bread with Calumon."

Takato glanced around the room. "I'm sure I heard something."

Guilmon sniffed and said. "I don't smell anything, except you and your parents and the bread and..." he frowned suddenly. Then he sniffed a couple more times and said, "What's he doing here?"

"Who?" asked Takato, warily.

Then he heard it – the noise that had woken him up. It was a loud, brief roar, that sounded very much like an engine revving. Takato blinked, leapt out of bed and crossed to window. Guilmon followed. The two of them peered out to see, bathed in the light of a lamppost, was Behemoth, Beelzemon's faithful ride.

"What's he – it – doing here?" asked Takato.

"That's what I said," said Guilmon.

Takato stared at Behemoth for a couple of seconds. There was no sign of Beelzemon, which meant the bike had come by itself. "Let's find out," Takato said, and he crossed the room to the door – his partner right behind him. They crept down the stairs and went outside.

Cautiously, they approached the sentient motorbike. When they got near to it, the bike's engines revved again. It moved forward slightly and turned, so that it was side-on to the two of them and was presenting its seat to them.

"I think he – it – whatever – wants us to get on," murmured Takato.

"Let's ask," Guilmon said. He paused, as if considering which part of the bike to address, before asking the handlebars:- "Do you want us to get on?"

The bike revved its engines, as if to say yes.

Takato was slightly apprehensive – the last time Guilmon had got on Behemoth he had had been completely taken over. But the dinosaur was very trusting and didn't appear to be thinking along similar lines, because he clambered on board Behemoth, sitting awkwardly on his tail on the seat. There was no sign of any possession and Guilmon turned to his Tamer. "Come on, Takato," he patted the seat before him.

Carefully, apprehensively and hesitantly, Takato swung a leg over Behemoth's seat. His hands gripped the handlebars and he said, slowly, "Er, alright. I'm on. Um, where do you want us to go?"

Behemoth made no response, but he began to vibrate slightly.

Takato and Guilmon glanced at each other, then Takato said, "Are we going anywhere?"

There was a moment of silence. Then Behemoth shuddered, then shot forwards trailing a noise very like:- "AAARRRRGGGHHHHH!"

* * *

Gatomon watched the three children as they sat, sleeping, on the sofa. She didn't particularly need sleep as much as the other Digimon or the humans, so when Kari had returned to bed, she had stayed awake to keep an eye on the little children. She had the gift of patience, and she whiled away the hours without doing anything besides stare.

The sun was beginning to climb over the horizon and peek through the window. Gatomon's stomach growled a little, urging her to take breakfast. She mentally told it to behave itself, but when it didn't she sighed and leapt down from the work-surface she'd been standing on and walked over to the fridge. Pulling it open and clambering inside, she found the tinned mackerel that Mrs. Kamiya always left her – she didn't mind her fish raw and certainly preferred it to anything Mrs. Kamiya cooked up – and took it out.

She shut the door and looked up. She balked. The older girl was awake and was staring at her. But there was no fear in her eyes, only a kind of curiosity. Then, the girl reached under the blanket and pulled out...

Gatomon blinked. Was that a digivice? If it was, then it was certainly like no Digivice she'd ever seen, but it did look very similar.

The girl pointed in her direction and a holographic image suddenly popped up. "Gatomon," the girl read aloud, staring at it. "Beast Digimon. Champion level. Attacks are Lightning Paw and Cat's Eye Hypnotism."

Gatomon blinked again. "That's useful," she said. "Izzy would have a fit if he saw one of them."

"What are you doing in our world?" asked the girl, Suzie, and put the digivice-thing down. "Are you a lost Digimon?"

"Un, no," Gatomon wondered why this girl was not scared of her presence, but said nothing. "My partner's in the other room. You met her last night."

Suzie's eyes widened. "Kari's a Tamer?"

Gatomon blinked a third time. "A what?"

"A Tamer," said Suzie. "That's what it's called when a human meets a Digimon and they become partners."

"I've never heard of a Tamer," shrugged Gatomon. "Kari and her older brother, Tai are both Digi-destined. They were chosen by the Sovereigns to be the humans partnered with Digimon to save both worlds."

"But I thought that was our job," Suzie pouted.

"You've saved the world?" Gatomon looked puzzled. "When?"

"Well there was the massive Demon Lord that rampaged through Tokyo a couple of months ago," Suzie said.

"Wait, you're saying that you have a partner and you fought that thing off?" Gatomon asked. "We were all on holiday at the time, but..."

"Yeah, we have partners," said Suzie. "My partner is a Lopmon. Ai and Mako here have an Impmon."

"Where are they then?" asked Gatomon. "The Digital World?"

Suzie shook her head. "No. They're probably looking for us right now."

"I see," Gatomon said. Then she remembered she was still holding the tin of fish, so she opened it with her claws, hooked one out and bit into it.

Kari chose that point to walk out of the room. She looked from Suzie and the sleeping twins to Gatomon and back, then said, "Um, I see you two have met then?"

"You're not going to believe this, Kari," Gatomon chuckled, fishing out another fish.

"Believe what?" Tai Kamiya walked out of the bedroom at that point, his hair sticking up at seemingly impossible angles, which he seemed to be trying, and failing, to tame. Behind him, a small, orange dinosaur Digimon exited the room stretching.

Tai spotted the kids and stared. He looked to Kari, and said, "Who are these guys."

Suzie raised her D-Arc again and scanned the dinosaur. "Agumon. Dinosaur Digimon. Rookie level. Attacks are Pepper Breath and Claw Attack."

Agumon blinked. "Is that a Digivice?"

"Yeah," Suzie nodded, grinning. "I got it ages ago, at the same time as I found my partner, Lopmon."

"I think we've all got some explaining to do," voiced Gatomon. "And, I daresay, a few stories to tell."

"I'll say," Agumon nodded enthusiastically. "Forget breakfast. I want to listen to this. He walked over to the children and plonked himself down beside them. "Does this mean that there are more Digi-destined in Tokyo now?"

"I'm a Tamer."

"A what?"

"Maybe you should wake up the other two before we start," said Kari.

"And I' quite like my first question asked right now, Kari," said Tai. "Who are they? What are they doing here?"

"Gatomon spotted them in the lobby last night," said Kari. "They're from Shinjuku and got lost on the trains. I took them in for the night and said that we can take them home in the morning."

Tai grinned. "That's my little sister." He ruffled Kari's hair. "Always looking out for those in need."

Kari protested to the hair treatment, pushing his hand off and saying. "Are you trying to make my hair look like yours? But thanks, I guess you're right. But I had no idea that any of them had Digimon."

Suzie woke Ai and Mako up, and once the twins were acquainted with Tai, Gatomon and Agumon, they began to help Suzie tell them the story of the Tamers, including showing them holograms of Lopmon – at which point Gatomon said, "She looks like Terriermon," which led to a great deal of confusion about which Terriermon – and then telling the story of the D-Reaper, etcetera etcetera.

When the Digi-destined began to tell their story – which took longer – Suzie asked at the point about meeting how they came to be Digi-destined, "I can't imagine Zhuqiaomon wanting that to happen. He hates humans."

The explanations went on for a couple of hours, with both sides telling stories, and the Tamers showing the Digi-destined the alternate forms of their partners, by which time Mrs. Kamiya had joined them and, once filled in, asked about breakfast. At this point, all four of the other residents groaned, but Mrs. Kamiya didn't appear to notice. Suzie, Ai and Mako looked quizzical at this unusual reactions, to which Tai muttered, "You'll find out sooner or later. Just don't touch anything she gives you."

* * *

Henry paced back and forth impatiently. Terriermon was saying "Momentai, Henry," roughly every ten seconds, and Lopmon was glancing anxiously around. Beelzemon was leaning casually on a wall, having reverted to his ordinary Beelzemon mode so his wings wouldn't get in the way, and Rika and Renamon were standing beside him.

"How much longer are they going to be?" asked Henry.

"Somebody's impatient," Beelzemon chuckled. "They should be here in a couple of seconds."

"Seconds?" Henry raised an eyebrow.

Then sure enough, there was a noise. It sounded suspiciously like:-

"AAARRRRGGGHHHHH!"

Behemoth rounded the corner suddenly, and his two passengers were yelling their heads off at the rampant motorcycle. Needless to say they were attracting a large amount of attention from passers-by, and Behemoth was weaving around the cars with apparent ease. Takato's hands were gripping the handlebars so tightly that his knuckles were bone white, and Guilmon had both arms and his tail wrapped around Takato's stomach, so the boy was almost suffocating.

Abruptly, Behemoth came to a halt before his master. The switch from zooming along to complete and utter stand-still was too much for both the riders and they were thrown straight over Behemoth's front, to land in an unceremonious pile in front of Renamon. Beelzemon and Terriermon both burst out laughing – the former patting his bike affectionately. It's engines seemed to purr, as it knew it had done a good job and had provided a laugh in the process.

Takato rubbed his head. He was still wearing his pyjamas, and his head was devoid of goggles, which was an unusual sight in of itself. He hadn't exactly had time to stop and put them on. He sat up, and was presented with a white paw. He took it, and Renamon helped him to his feet, chuckling and shaking her head, before the fox hauled Guilmon onto his toes.

"What's the deal with your bike, Beelzemon?" Takato jerked his thumb at the inert sentient vehicle. "How come it came to pick us up? And why did it have to go so fast?"

"Because it's an emergency and going slowly is not an option," replied Beelzemon. "The three smaller kids are missing."

"What? Since when?" asked Takato.

"Since yesterday," said Rika. "We've been looking for them all night but we can't find them anywhere."

"How come nobody told me?" Takato frowned.

"Because we thought that we would have found them by now," said Henry. "But they haven't been found, so we need your help, or, more specifically, Guilmon's."

"Me?" Guilmon blinked.

"They were of the Öedo train line," said Henry. "And we don't know which station they got off at. You think you can use your nose to find them."

Guilmon's eyes hardened, filling with determination. "I'm on it. Where's the nearest station."

* * *

It took a couple of hours, but, eventually, Guilmon found something. At a station named Kachidoki, he bent and sniffed at the ground outside, just as he had done at many stations already. His eyes lit up. "I got something!" he cried.

"Really?" Henry asked, perking up instantly.

"Yeah. It's them. All three of them. They were definitely here yesterday, and they went..." he sniffed again, moving his head from side to side and measuring which direction produced the greater scent, "...this way." He pointed.

"Lead the way, Pineapple-head," Beelzemon said, boarding his bike. "And do it quickly. We gotta find them before they do something stupid."

"Like you would?" Terriermon queried.

"Quiet, you."

Guilmon took off at a run, following the scent, and the strange procession followed him at speed. At last, they had a lead.

* * *

Davis Motomiya had woken up bright and early that morning. Unlike about a year ago, he did this quite often, so that he could make his daily trip to see his girlfriend, Kari. Or at least, he assumed that she was his girlfriend. The phrase that he "wouldn't take no for an answer," didn't really apply to Davis, because Kari hadn't said no.

She hadn't said yes either. Sometimes Kari was too kind for her own good.

Davis' partner, Veemon, had stopped returning to his In-training form of DemiVeemon while he stayed in the Human World. He said that it got him much less respect and none of them had been to the Digital World recently. He'd also done it to make him more appealing to Gatomon, but unlike Davis, he didn't relentlessly pursue the cat. As far as he was aware, she didn't even know of his affections and, at least for now, he was determined to keep it that way.

This was because he didn't want Gatomon to think that he was like Davis with his relentless infatuation for Kari. Everybody found Davis' obsession annoying and slightly scary, even Veemon himself.

Wearily, Veemon trudged after Davis as they made their way to the Kamiya apartment. He didn't mind the trips because they allowed him to see Agumon and Gatomon, but did they really have to be so early?

Davis was deep in thought, which was unusual for him. "So Veemon," he said. "What do you think would really impress Kari."

Veemon sighed. Everybody said, although not in front of Davis, that Veemon had much more sense than his partner, which was surprising considering his head was his primary weapon in this form. Davis had yet to learn the meaning of the word subtlety.

"I don't know," he said, unwilling to give an answer and so opting out of it.

"Come on, Veemon," insisted Davis. "I could really use your help here."

Veemon was tempted to say, "How about leaving her alone for a day. That'd impress her." But he didn't. He stayed silence.

"I wish that I could save Kari from something," Davis mused. "Maybe I can make her think she's in danger and then come to her rescue. I'd be like a knight in shining armour."

Veemon made a mental note to warn to Kari if he decided to go through with that. Davis' plans to get him to digivolve had not left him with confidence about Davis' strategic thinking. They'd always been extravagant and highly dangerous. Besides, Gatomon would probably tear anything Davis tried to shreds and expose him.

"Hey, wait. Look!" Davis suddenly pointed. Veemon looked, then blinked. For the first time in months, there was a Digimon he didn't know standing before him. A large, red dinosaur with its nose almost pressed to ground, had rounded the corner and was running towards them, sniffing.

"I know how I can impress Kari," said Davis. "We can beat this Digimon and send him back to the Digital World."

Veemon felt like smacking his, or preferably Davis', head against the wall. There were three things wrong with this plan. One was that they didn't have a computer on them to open a Digi-port and another was that this Digimon was far less impressive than others like MaloMyotismon. The final point was that if she was gonna be impressed with anyone, it would be him and not Davis, because Davis wasn't going to do any actual fighting. But, he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that'll work."

"Let's get him, Veemon. Digi-armour, energize!"

The Digi-Egg of Courage appeared from his D-Terminal, and Veemon merged with with a cry of, **"VEEMON ARMOUR-DIGIVOLVE TO... FLAMEDRAMON, THE FIRE OF COURAGE!"**

Guilmon stopped moving and looked up when he heard this and was faced by a tall, blue dragon-man Digimon he didn't know, with its chest, hands, feet and faced encased in red armour with flames painted across it. Abruptly, he went straight into his feral state when faced with a potential threat.

"I don't know who you are," Flamedramon took up a stance, "But I know where you're going. **FLAME FIST!"** he sent three fireballs shooting from his armoured hand at Guilmon.

Guilmon dodged one, and yelled **"PYRO SPHERE!"** unleashing the blast from his mouth. It crashed through the other two fireballs and struck Flamedramon in the chest. It didn't hurt him much, but it knocked him backwards in surprise.

_He's stronger than I thought,_ Flamedramon thought, and then said, "Alright, you asked for it, pal." Tensing his legs, he leapt into the air. Abruptly, his whole body was wreathed in flames and with a cry of **"FIRE ROCKET!"** he hurtled towards Guilmon.

Guilmon stood defiantly, glaring at the oncoming Flamedramon with dilated pupils and a furious snarl that contrasted with his usual, playful state. Flamedramon frowned through the flames at the stubborn Digimon, that wasn't even attempting to get out of the way.

He was quite surprised when a foot suddenly connected with his head, despite the flames. Surprised, Flamedramon stopped his attack and went flying to the side. He turned to see a yellow fox Digimon flipping gracefully backwards, before he ploughed into the pavement.

"What the..." Davis looked surprised. "Another one." He paused, then cried, "Doesn't matter. Come on, Flamedramon. You can beat them."

Flamedramon stood up, uninjured but just a little annoyed. The fox, which he recognised as a Renamon landed gracefully by the unknown dinosaur. He didn't particularly want to fight them, but the dinosaur looked a little violent and the fox was protecting him so...

He started forwards, but stopped when a voice said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Flamedramon turned and blanched. A biker-like Digimon was pointing a shotgun straight at his head. A Terriermon and a Lopmon rounded the corner, along with, Flamedramon was surprised to see, three kids about Davis' age. He frowned, then relaxed his guard slightly, but keeping a wary eye on the shotgun.

"What's going on?" Davis called, unable to see the whole situation from some way back. "Come on, Flamedramon. You can cream them!"

Flamedramon held up a hand, and said, "What's going on here? Who are you guys?"

"More to the point, who are you?" Terriermon said. "And what's the big deal with attacking Guilmon like that? Looking to load his data are you?"

"Load data?" Flamedramon's eyes narrowed. "Are you from the Southern Quadrat?"

"That we are," Renamon said.

"Why did you attack my partner?" demanded Takato.

Flamedramon's eyes did the opposite of narrowing this time. "Partner?" he glanced from the human to the unknown dinosaur, and relaxed even more. "Oh, sorry. Me and _my_ partner thought he was a wild Digimon."

"Your partner?" Rika asked. "You mean that guy?" she pointed to the bemused Davis.

"That's him."

Beelzemon frowned and lowered his shotgun. Guilmon returned to his usual state, and said, "Sorry. I thought _you_ were a wild Digimon too. Do you have any bread?"

"Focus, Guilmon," Lopmon walked over to him, while Terriermon hopped onto Renamon's shoulder. "We're on a mission here, remember."

"A mission?" Flamedramon said. "What mission?"

"Three of our friends went missing last night," said Henry, as Guilmon lowered his nose to the ground again. "Three of the Tamers."

"Three of the what?"

"You don't know what a Tamer is, and yet you have a partner?" Terriermon asked. "Boy, do you guys need a talking to. He's the Tamer, you're the Digimon."

Flamedramon looked affronted. "I've been partnered with Davis for over a year. I think I'd know if he was a Tamer."

"You _think_ you'd know, yes, but obviously...mmph!"

Renamon, deciding to take the initiative and stop an argument from developing, had grabbed Terriermon's head and pressed her lips to his. Flamedramon almost fell over in surprise, completely not expecting this. Davis' eyes almost bugged out of his head.

But none of the others appeared concerned, and Beelzemon yelled "Get a room!"

"What's going on?" asked Davis, flabbergasted.

"Davis!" cried a voice behind him. Davis turned to see Tai, Kari, Agumon and Gatomon running towards him, with three smaller children he didn't know running behind them.

"Tai! Kari!" he cried, grinning. "We got a Digimon situation here, but don't worry. I got everything under control." He put his hands on his hips and grinned cockily.

"You sure about that?" Agumon smirked. Davis frowned, then turned back to see Flamedramon de-digivolving into Veemon, the Digi-Egg shooting back into his D-Terminal.

"Wha?" Davis asked dumbly. "Veemon, what are you doing? Kick their butts."

"Davis, they're partners," Veemon said. "I'm not gonna attack then now I know that."

Davis was about to say something else, but instead he fell over as something smacked him in the back of the knee. Suzie had just rushed passed him and accidentally knocked the taller human over, with a loud cry of "Lopmon! Henry! Terriermon!"

"Suzie!" Lopmon cried, and leapt off the ground beside Guilmon and shot towards her Tamer.

"Beelzemon!" Ai and Mako cried at the same time, rushing past the floored Davis on either side.

"Teradalets!" Beelzemon grinned, using the nickname he had given them to annoy their mother. He leapt off his bike, glowed and de-digivolved into Impmon before rushing to embrace his Tamers. "Good to see you made it without coming to damage."

"I'm not going to get on a train again," said Mako, relief evident in his voice.

"No worries, you can come on Behemoth with me."

"Yay!"

Takato and Rika (Henry had gone to his sister) glanced at each, and tried their best not to snort. They also refrained from mentioning that trains were much safer than motorbikes. Behemoth would have been offended.

"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" Davis asked, utterly confused. Tai and Kari ignored him and walked over towards the other Tamers. Gatomon and Agumon approached Veemon.

"What happened?" asked Gatomon.

"Oh, the usual," Veemon sighed. "Davis saw another Digimon and decided we should attack it to impress Kari. I could hardly say no – you know how he gets."

"True," Gatomon giggled.

"At least the fight got interrupted before you made some serious enemies," said Agumon. "These guys have been through just about as much as we have."

"Is that so? I'm not sure whether to believe you there, because the Terriermon called Davis a Tamer and I've got no idea what he meant."

"Ah, I think we can shed a little light on that one," said Gatomon.

As Agumon and Gatomon filled Veemon in, Tai and Kari walked over to the happy reunion. "So I take it you're Henry," Tai addressed the Chinese Tamer. "My name's Tai. My little sister's Digimon found your sister and her friends lost last night so we took them in for the night. We were gonna bring 'em home this morning, but it looks like we won't need to."

"Thanks for looking after my sister," Henry stood up and shook hands with both of them. "I really appreciate it. If you need a favour, don't hesitate to ask."

"Henry never can turn down the opportunity to meet new people," said Terriermon, from where he was watching Suzie to make sure she didn't squeeze Lopmon to death.

"I have a question," said Kari. She pointed to Takato, who was coming over with Rika, "Why is that kid wherein pyjamas?"

Terriermon snorted. "That would be because of Behemoth."

"The motorbike?" Tai asked. The Tamers looked at him curiously, so Tai said, "The kids filled me in on some of your adventures. I have to say that if half the things they said are true, I'm very impressed. You may have even done more than we have, and we've done a lot."

"Would you like to meet the rest of the Digi-destined?" asked Kari.

"The what?" asked Takato.

"Er... humans that aren't Tamers but still have partners."

"There are more of you?" asked Rika.

"Oh yes, lots," said Tai.

"Maybe some other time," said Henry, hoisting Suzie to her feet. "We should get the children back home first. Their parents are worried sick."

"Oh joy," muttered Impmon. "I just know Mrs. Terada's gonna be pissed at me."

Tai and Kari at his language in front of the kids, but they didn't seem to mind. "Of course," Kari said. "But feel free to come back anytime. I'm sure that we've got a lot to talk about."

"Izzy's going to want to fiddle with those D-Arcs of yours though," laughed Tai.

"Who's Izzy?" asked Guilmon.

"Our resident genius."

"Sounds like you and him would get along like two peas in a pod, Henry."

"Terriermon."

"Momentai."

"I agree," said Agumon. Gatomon snorted.

"Perhaps we should make our way back now," said Renamon. "We can come back later if you wish."

"You hear that Suzie," said Lopmon. "We're heading home."

"Hey, Terriermon," Veemon approached him and whispered. "How the hell did you manage to grab a girl like that?"

"Not in front of the kids," Terriermon whispered back, then winked. Veemon looked confused, then surprised and he mouthed _Mated?_ at him. Terriermon nodded and Veemon grinned, punching him on the shoulder.

"We'll meet back here at, say, two in the afternoon?" asked Henry.

"Sounds good to me," said Tai.

"Can we not go home on the train?" Ai insisted.

"Alright then," Rika pulled out a card, which turned blue. "You up to taking us home, Renamon."

"Without a doubt."

"Alright then. Digi-modify! Matrix-digivolution activate!"

"**RENAMON MATRIX-DIGIVOLVE TO... TAOMON!"**

Tai whistled appreciatively at the shaman fox. "Thank you," she said.

"See you later," said Terriermon, as they crowded around her.

"**TALISMAN SPELL!"** Taomon cried, a large transparent bubble appeared around all of them. They waved, especially the kids, and Tai, Kari, Gatomon, Agumon and Veemon waved back. Davis was still on the floor. The bubble lifted off and began to move away. As it did, the motorbike that was still on the ground kicked into life on its own, and zoomed after it without a rider, whipping past the Digi-destined and narrowly avoiding running Davis over.

"Now that's cool," said Agumon.

"Is anyone gonna tell me what on Earth is going on?" Davis cried.

"Later Davis," said Veemon cheerfully. "Much later."

* * *

This could spark of a great adventure, but that's the end of this oneshot. I'm going to write and put up Chapter 25 of "Secret of the 327th" before doing the next one, which will be for Movie-Brat, but at the way reviews are coming in I might have to limit it to every one-hundredth, or I'll be spending almost as much time on this as the proper story.

And yes, all that stuff about the train lines was researched and true to the actual city.

Hope you enjoyed it.


	2. Defence on Orto Plutonia

Here's another oneshot, just as I said there would be. This time is the request of Movie-Brat, as he was my 50th reviewer for Secret of the 327th. He didn't particularly give me much to work on so I hope he likes what I've produced.

Unlike the last oneshot, this story is related directly to Secret of the 327th and you won't understand it until you've read that. It takes place a few months after the last chapter I wrote for it, which is, at the moment, Chapter 25.

I neither own Star Wars or anything in the previous chapter.

**

* * *

**

Every Fifty

**Oneshot 2:- Defence On Orto Plutonia**

**Rating:- T**

**Worlds:- Digimon Tamers, Star Wars: The Clone Wars**

* * *

The doors to the bridge of the _Serenity_ slid open with a soft whirr. From their stations, clone troopers looked up as they saw one of their passengers step in. They shook their heads in wonderment. They were still getting used to having this unique creature on board, as they knew they'd never see another being who looked quite like her in their lives, however longer they survived the conflict of the Clone Wars.

She was tall, covered with yellow fur and with long purple gloves encasing her arms, although the hair on her stomach, paws and legs, along with the mane-like fur around her neck were white instead. Her pointed muzzle and sharp, blue eyes scanned the room. She spotted her quarry standing beside the large windows up front, and Renamon moved over towards the humanoid surveying the bridge.

Beside her walked a human child, fourteen years old, with lavender eyes and flaming red hair tied back into a spiky... projection at that back. Renamon's small mate, Terriermon, often commented that he was pretty sure Rika Nonaka's could probably stab someone to death. It did look very sharp.

The two walked past the clone troopers, ignoring the stares – both were used to having people stop what they were doing just to stare at them. If she wanted to, Renamon could have lifted a perception filter so the clones wouldn't be able to follow their progress, but why bother? There was nothing wrong with curiosity.

And besides, it wouldn't fool the Jedi Master that they were approaching. She'd be able to sense them straight away.

The two of them had met a young Jedi Padawan known as Ahsoka Tano. She was what was known as a Togruta, and she had orange skin, with four black-and-white striped head-tails, or lekku, adorning her head. But Jedi Master Shaak Ti, despite being the same species, looked very different. For a start, her skin was a dark red colour instead of orange. Rika often wondered if Ahsoka would get more red the older she got – she was only fourteen – but she'd never asked. And Shaak Ti's four lekku were much, much longer, particularly those that hung down over her shoulders. They went down past her waist.

They had known Shaak Ti for very long. Renamon had met her when she'd gone up in front of the Jedi council, but she'd never had much chance to talk to her properly. But Shaak Ti was good friends with Aayla Secura, the Jedi she had first met and befriended (although Aayla seemed to be good friends with just about everyone in the order) and that was good enough for both her and Rika. Shaak Ti had been very friendly, and almost slightly motherly to Rika, so the two had warmed up to her quickly.

Shaak Ti smiled as they approached. "Good sleep?" she asked Rika – Renamon hardly ever slept.

"Very well," nodded Rika. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," the Togruta Master turned to Renamon. "And how is your mate?"

"On the march," Renamon answered, "although when it comes to Terriermon, I use that term loosely. They've successfully landed on Sullust and are making their way towards the Separatist outpost."

"Good to hear," said Shaak Ti. "If only we could all look into each other's minds like you and Terriermon. It'd be much easier and more reliable than communicators."

"It does rob you of privacy though," shrugged Renamon. "I don't mind that part either, but I daresay there are a few seconds everyone wants to keep from someone."

"Even the Jedi?" smirked Shaak Ti.

"Even the Jedi," nodded Renamon.

"So, Shaak Ti?" Rika piped up – nobody seemed to want to call the Togruta Shaak, and she'd insisted they not call her Master Ti. "Where exactly are we? Which planet is that and why are we here?" She pointed out of the window at the great sphere which they were slowly approaching. It was entirely white – there was no greenery, no desert, no ocean to be seen anywhere. If there was ocean, it was obviously completely frozen solid.

"That is Orto Plutonia," said Shaak Ti, as the three females stared out at it, all of them with their arms folded. "It's an ice world, thought to be completely uninhabited until recently."

"Then why are we here?" Renamon asked.

Shaak Ti pointed to the moon that was slowly orbiting the planet. It too was an ice place, but it also appeared to be slightly warmer than the planet itself, even going as far as to have a small ocean. "The moon is called Pantora," she said. "It's quite an influential planet amongst the Senate, with a democratically elected government led by the Chairman.

"Senator Chuchi, who is the voice of this planet in the Senate, belongs to a group of senators that prefer diplomacy to violence, led by Senators Padmé Amidala and Bail Organa. That party is a loud voice in the Senate and if the Separatists are able to capture a world with such a high influence, they might deal that party a serious blow."

"I presume there is a Separatist threat then?" asked Renamon.

"Indeed there is," Shaak Ti nodded. "Republic spies discovered that the planet and the moon was going to be attacked by the Separatists. They'll start with the planet first, and if they take that the Pantora will be an easy victim. Senator Chuchi asked the Chancellor for our assistance, and he was only too happy to oblige."

"So where are they?" Rika asked. "I don't see any Separatists here?"

"They may be on their way, though," Shaak Ti replied. "Now, if you wouldn't mind Rika, Renamon, could you duck out of sight for a moment? I need to inform the Senator that we've arrived."

Renamon placed a hand on Rika's shoulder and guided her out of the way of the holoprojector – her perception filter did not work on machines. Shaak Ti pushed a button and the image of a woman dressed in clothing clearly designed to both look regal and keep warm appeared. She had purple hair with a peculiar gold headdress. Her face was a similar colour to Aayla's, although she had two, curved, yellow stripes on each cheek.

"Senator Chuchi of Pantora," Shaak Ti bowed respectfully. "This is Jedi Master Shaak Ti, here to answer your plea for help against the Separatist threat."

"Thank goodness," Chuchi's voice had a slight accent that could only be described as slightly South African. "It appears you've arrived before the Separatists appeared. I am very grateful for your assistance, Master Jedi."

"I haven't done anything yet," Shaak Ti pointed out. Chuchi smiled warmly.

"Well, I am grateful nonetheless. How do you plan to proceed?"

"I have brought several Republic Cruisers with me," Shaak Ti explained, while Rika and Renamon looked on from the sidelines. "I intend to set up a blockade around Pantora in order to stop the Separatists from attacking it directly. If they wish to take the moon, their easiest bet would be to take the planet first and try and gain a foothold. Myself and the rest of the men will engage them there, out of the way of any Pantoran civilians."

"That is good to here," Chuchi said. "But are you aware that the planet itself is also inhabited?"

"I am indeed. Obi-Wan Kenobi told me of his encounter with the Talz," nodded the Togruta.

"They said that they'd like to be left alone," Chuchi looked worried. "And I granted them sovereignty. Are you sure that taking the fight to their lands is a good idea?"

"If Pantora is taken, the planet will soon follow anyway. And there are considerably less Talz than Pantorans anyway," said Shaak Ti. "But I am actually planning on enlisting their help. Obi-Wan told me of how they managed to take out an outpost of droids without suffering a single loss, and how they outmanoeuvred the best of the 501st. Since they know their planet better than anyone, they could help us set up the defence so the fight will have minimal casualties."

"Of course," nodded Chuchi. "I am no strategist and I happily concede the point. But you may need my help is swaying the Talz to your cause. They haven't exactly had a good history with Pantorans." She frowned. Shaak Ti knew she was referring to the previous Chairman that had dubbed them animals and ordered their slaughter. His plans had not gone down well with the Talz and he had died at their spears.

"I will be thankful for your assistance," Shaak Ti nodded. "I shall have my troops set up the blockade immediately, and we shall head for the Talz village straight away."

"Thank you again, Master Jedi. And good luck."

Shaak Ti and Chuchi exchanged a brief bow to each other and the Jedi ended the communication.

"She seemed friendly enough," said Renamon, stepping back into view.

"I'm not supposed to judge the Senate," said Shaak Ti offhandedly. "But if you were to ask me, I'd say that all the more trustworthy Senators are in the party that prefers diplomacy."

Renamon paused frowned and said to thin air, "I'm not going to repeat that."

Shaak Ti blinked, but Rika mouthed the word _Terriermon_ and she smiled.

"Alright men," the Jedi Master turned to the clones. "Let's get this done as quickly as possible, gentlemen."

"Yes, General," said several clones, as they began their tasks.

* * *

As the cruisers moved into position, Shaak Ti led Rika and Renamon down to the hangar. A clone approached them and saluted. He was dressed in unusual clones attire, which was clearly designed for warmth. "Gunships prepped and loaded, General," he said. "We're good to go."

"Not just yet, we aren't," said Renamon. "Rika's coming down with us, and I'd prefer she were dressed a little more appropriately for an ice world."

"Might be a problem with that, Renamon," said the clone, who was known as Commander Ember. "We haven't exactly got any parkas her size. We're not accustomed to having children with us on our missions."

"Not to worry," said Shaak Ti, walking over to a nearby crate and pulling it open with a wave of the Force. She pulled out a dark blue coat, complete with warm trousers and hood and held it out. With a whoosh, her blade extended, a lighter blue than the coat, and she swiftly swiped off a large portion of the arms and legs.

"The torso part will still be a bit big," smiled the Togruta. "But this will do. Put it on."

"You're kidding right?" Rika took the proffered coat. "How am I expected to look like the tomboy I am in this?"

"You're expected to look warm," Renamon raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed," said Shaak Ti. "It's lined with thermoreceptors that'll tune into your natural body heat and keep you nice and toasty."

Rika pulled it on grudgingly and said, "Are you not going to wear one, Renamon."

"I shall be perfectly fine the way I am," Renamon laughed.

"As will I," said Shaak Ti, "although I will be wearing these." She pulled a pair of goggles from the crate, then another, tossing one pair to Rika.

"I. Am. Not. A. Gogglehead," Rika said firmly, holding the goggles like they were something contagious.

"You are now," Renamon took them and slapped them around her head. "Get snow flying into your eye and that's it."

"Alright, but if we ever get back home, you will never tell Takato about this. Understand." Rika attempted to look menacing, but the goggles almost made Renamon laugh. On Sullust, Terriermon was cracking up and Aayla, Bly, Henry, Suzie and Lopmon were all looking at him like he'd gone mad.

"My lips are sealed," Renamon chuckled.

"They'd better be," muttered Rika, fingering the goggles uncomfortably.

Shaak Ti placed on her own goggles and said, "Now we're ready Commander."

"Excellent," Ember nodded. "Shall we get underway?"

"Indeed we shall," Shaak Ti led the three others to the nearest gunship. "We got a village of indigenous people to see."

* * *

"So, let me get this straight," Rika said about an hour later, as she sat on the BARC speeder bike with Shaak Ti's arms over each shoulder so they could stay on the handlebars. Renamon was standing on the back, feet spread wide and leaning into the wind, while keeping perfect balance and avoiding getting hit in the face by Shaak Ti's billowing robes. "This Chairman Cho ordered the extermination of the Talz just because he felt like it?"

"Something along those lines," nodded Shaak Ti. "He was paranoid and manipulative and he believed the Talz were little more than beasts that couldn't be trusted. He called them savages."

"That sounds familiar," muttered Renamon.

"It does?"

"Yes," said Rika. "Similar things have happened on our planet, except we were calling other members of our own species the savages instead of another."

"I see," Shaak Ti murmured. "Well, fortunately, Senator Chuchi, with a little help from Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, managed to settle the ensuing conflict peacefully, although they weren't in time to save the Chairman. The Talz had the clear advantage – they know what they're doing, and they skilful warriors, despite their lack of technology."

"Well, let's hope there's no hard feelings," remarked Commander Ember from his own BARC speeder.

"And if there is," said Renamon. "I'll get us out of there extremely quickly. My perception filter should work on them."

* * *

A few minutes later, and they slowed down a little so they could safely hover over an ice-bridge. Rika looked around, and she saw them. Large, hulking shapes were watching them from everywhere, staring down at them from the cliff heights – how they got up there was anyone's guess. They were broad, and covered in white fur, except for their face, feet and hands, which were adorned with viciously hooked claws. Four large, round, black eyes stared at them from each head, and a small proboscis dangled from each, which was, presumably, a small tubular mouth.

All of them were carrying a spear or a club which all looked like they were made of bone, and many of them were riding on some kind of creature. The creatures looked a little like male lions, except they were as blue as Chuchi had been, and their manes were only on the tops of their necks and resembled thick quills instead of hair. They had surprisingly little hair, and long tails which ended in a fan like protrusion.

"Those are the Talz," nodded Shaak Ti quietly in Rika's ear. "And those beasts some of them are riding are called narglatches. Don't worry about them – unless the Talz don't like us. The Talz have them under control."

Rika couldn't help but shudder at the thought of being leapt at by a narglatch, but she suppressed it.

The BARC speeders pulled to a halt outside a bunch of little dwellings that resembled boulders, but were in fact large huts of some kind, complete with tiny glass-less windows. The biggest one was right before them, and as they disembarked and the snow fell around them, two Talz stepped out. One was obviously the leader, as he was wearing a headpiece that stuck straight up from his head and was made of bone, along with something that looked like the shell of a large tortoise strapped to his back.

The small group of clones, Jedi, Digimon and Tamer were surrounded by Talz, although none of them looked threatening, just a little curious and edgy. The leader approached the group and Shaak Ti stepped forwards boldly, indicating she was the leader. The Talz chieftain stopped before her and said, "Kabunka ching cheechee ba," in a very low, guttural way.

"Er, do you speak their language?" asked Rika.

"No," said Shaak Ti, "but I know a way we can get a translator." She pulled her holoprojector from her belt and showed it to the leader, how looked at it curiously. Then she gently place the holoprojector beside her and a hologram of Chuchi and a protocol droid appeared.

All the Talz immediately tensed, not having expected something like this, but when they saw who it was they stopped and relaxed slightly.

"Thi-Sen," Chuchi addressed the chieftain. "It has been a while."

"Chor chedoo bref chookor," said the protocol droid obediently.

The conversation progressed with the protocol droid translating into both Basic and Talzzi so everyone knew what was going on.

"What have you come here for?" asked Thi-Sen, in his "Ch"ing way. "Are you seeking to start a battle afresh?"

"Not at all, Thi-Sen. Not with us anyway. I am here to deliver a warning."

"A warning? What warning?"

"I fear to say that there is a threat to your planet and our moon looming," Chuchi sighed. "The Separatists wish to capture both, and if they got their way they would slaughter your people."

Thi-Sen looked aggravated as he replied via the droid, "Is there any way to speak with them."

"They will not listen," Chuchi shook her head. "We have tried numerous times to get them to see sense but our efforts prove futile. The fate of Orto Plutonia and Pantora is, to them, something they merely wish to subjugate."

"I thank you for your warning."

"This is Jedi Master Shaak Ti," said Chuchi. "On behalf of Pantora and the Republic, we wish to extend an invitation for you to let her and her men assist you in the fight against the Separatists that is sure to come. She is most capable, as are her troops, and I believe we shall stand a far better chance of victory if we stand united."

"And tell them we've brought a new toy with us that might give us an advantage," added Shaak Ti.

Thi-Sen paused to consider, looking Shaak Ti up and down. He turned to survey the rest of the troops, including Rika and Renamon, then he grunted and said, "I saw the damage your men caused to us last time. I shall be most thankful to have them on our side this time."

"Then we are in agreement?" Shaak Ti asked. Once the droid translated, Thi-Sen raised his spear. For a moment, Renamon thought he was going to stab Shaak Ti, but he merely plunged it into the ground before her. Chuchi smiled. Obviously this was a symbol of peace and comradeship.

"Then let us prepare for the oncoming tide," said Shaak Ti. "We shall need every available minute we can muster. And Senator?"

"Yes?"

"Could you send the protocol droid down to join us?"

* * *

WHOOSH!

Several large Separatist frigates appeared out of nowhere above the ice-covered planet of Orto Plutonia. They hovered like great, black beetles with metal carapaces and slowly moved forwards towards the nearby rotating moon of Pantora.

Artel Darc sat up from his seat on the bridge and looked at the moon. Even from here, he could quite plainly see the large numbers of spaceships around the planet. He was a human, tall and with long, fair hair flowing around his head and an expression that gave nothing away. He wore simple clothing; shirt, jacket, belt, trousers that were almost jeans, but hanging from the belt was a small cylindrical device. The hilt of a lightsaber.

Darc was one of Count Dooku's Dark Acolytes – fitting really, considering he was called Darc. They were a group of Jedi who'd been turned to the way of the Sith by Darth Tyranus, as Dooku was also known. Most prominent of these was Asajj Ventress, and there a few other well known ones, but Artel Darc had only joined their ranks recently, and was looking for the opportunity to live up to his name.

The taking of Pantora, and thus putting a serious dent in one of the main political parties in the Senate, would do the job.

"Sir," said a battle droid at the controls. "It appears that the Republic knows of our intentions. They've set up a blockade of Venator-class cruisers around the moon. The scanners indicate at least fifteen ships."

"They must really want to keep Pantora safe if they would go to such lengths," laughed Darc. "But they will fall sure enough."

"But sir," said another droid. "We're outnumbered two to one. Wouldn't it be better to ask for reinforcements."

"Are you the one making decisions on this ship?"

"Uh, no sir."

"Then shut up and let me do the thinking, you brainless idiot."

"Roger, roger."

"Tell me," Darc turned to the first droid that had spoken, fingering the blade of his lightsaber as he spoke. "How many spaceships are there guarding the planet?"

"None, sir," said the droid. "Our Intel says the planet is uninhabited. They probably don't think they need to protect it."

"You see," Darc laughed. "The Jedi really are so weak and arrogant enough to think that they have everything covered. But I know better. We turn around."

"You want us to retreat, sir?"

"No. But I want them to think that we have. But in reality, we shall merely head to the other side of the planet and land. Once there, we shall wait for a while. Pantora is a moon, which means it rotates around the planet. Sooner or later, it will come close to our position and we can make an unexpected attack from the surface of the planet."

"Roger, roger," the battle droids chorused. But Darc distinctly heard one of them mutter, "Wish they had an oil bath down there. Why do we never get a break?"

Darc turned to this droid. "I'm sorry. I didn't hear that. Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of us?"

The battle droids turned to watch the unfortunate individual as it blustered, "Oh, er... no sir. I... was... er... just muttering to myself."

"And I'm sure we all want to hear your opinion," smiled Darc.

"Er..." the battle droid didn't seem to be capable of anything more than this.

Darc smiled and unhooked is lightsaber, activating the blazing red blade. "I've seen many droids sliced in half by these things. Many, many hundreds of them. Tell me, do you feel like joining that number of droids?"

"No sir," the droid backed away.

Darc leered at him for a few seconds, then deactivated the blade. "Be thankful I am not General Grievous, or you would be dead where you stand."

The droid seemed to wilt in relief. "Thank you, sir. I WAAARGH!"

Darc sent it crashing into the wall behind it with a wave of the Force with enough power to knock it silly, but not enough to kill it. The droid slumped to the ground, dazed and shaking its head, as if trying to rid itself of dizziness.

"Now, do what I say," Darc growled to the other droids. "Turn around and jump to hyperspace for a short distance."

"How short?"

"Until we're out of sight, you dolt."

"Roger, roger."

The frigates wheeled around and zipped into hyperspace for a couple of seconds before jumping out of it again. They then wheeled about for a second time, and began the second hyperspace jump with the co-ordinates set to the other side of the planet. They jumped again, and they reappeared out of sight of anyone from Pantora. Slowly, the frigates began to descend, until they broke through the atmosphere and came to rest on the icy wasteland of Orto Plutonia.

Darc, wearing a parka that was probably made of Wookiee fur, stepped casually out and observed the white wilderness of the planet.

"I must say I don't envy the Pantorans for living near a place like this," he laughed. "I think I'd move, wouldn't you?"

The battle droids nearby didn't answer. They'd learned the hard way when a Sith was asking a rhetorical question.

* * *

Shaak Ti looked up. "Just as I thought," she said to nobody in particular.

"What?" Rika replied, staring at the Jedi Master through the goggles clamped firmly over her eyes.

"They responded to the blockade exactly as I'd hoped," smiled Shaak Ti. "I can sense the Dark Side of the Force coming from an area a few miles beyond those mountains. They've landed."

"Doesn't the Dark Side of the Force mean a Sith?" asked Renamon, her yellow fur waving in the cold wind that seemed to blow continuously over the planet's surface.

"Indeed it does," Shaak Ti looked grim. "I believe that we may be up against a Dark Acolyte."

"That Ventress woman?" asked Rika, shivering even with her coat.

"Perhaps. But I do not know for certain."

"So, what is this special toy that you decided to bring along for our dear old Separatist friends," asked Renamon, her feet spread slightly wide in order to stop herself from sinking into the snow.

"Let me show you," the Jedi Master turned and called. "Commander?"

Ember looked round from where he was talking to Thi-Sen via protocol droid about strategy in taking out the droids and their opponents strengths, weakness etc. "Yes sir?" he called.

"Is our little surprise ready to be unveiled?"

"We're just about in position, sir."

"Good. Whenever you're ready."

Ember pressed a button on his comlink, which began beeping and a green light flashed repeatedly. A few moments later and there was a whir of engines overhead. The combined forces of clone and Talz looked up as large ships began to descend through the swirling snow. The Talz looked as intrigued as a person without a proper mouth can look. They'd only ever had slight experience with flying machines once before, when Chuchi had arrived to bargain via LAAT gunship. Now they watched with avid fascination as the ships came down.

They were the same sort of ship which had the heavy, magnetic clamps used to pick up AT-TE walkers, and they did indeed have something clasped in the clamps. They were not AT-TEs, but they certainly were walkers. As the ships lifted off and the walkers were left behind, Rika, Renamon and Thi-Sen, along with all the other Talz, stared.

Shaak Ti led Renamon over to Ember and Thi-Sen, nudging her commander and saying. "I never was good with technical terms. Care to explain for everyone."

"Certainly, sir," said Ember. "This is a new type of walker that recently been designed by the Kaminoans to be even more efficient in combat than the All-Terrain-Tactical-Enforcer. This one has been in production for a couple of years now, and they're being tested out in battles across the galaxy. This one," he pointed to the walker on the ground, as several more were being placed down by similar ships, "Is known as the All-Terrain Attack-Transport."

"The AT-AT?" Renamon murmured.

"Correct," said Ember.

The war machine was absolutely massive, standing well over twenty-metres tall on four, enormous legs, with wide feet similar to those of the AT-TE, but much bigger. The legs were attached to a huge "body", which was a massive hulk of pure armour and the cockpit was detached from that body in a large "head" section. It did indeed look like a living creature of metal. The head was attached to the body by a flexible tunnel that resembled a neck, and on each side of the head were two blasters, one heavy laser cannon and a medium blaster. The window that served as the way the pilot steered was just a thin slit in the head that minimized weaker areas.

But these AT-ATs had a hidden addition to their defence. Although they were mostly made of durasteel, they also had a large amount of Chrome-Digizoid metal that had been donated via the Digimon. There wasn't enough of the stuff to make a whole AT-AT of it, but it did add to the thick armour.

"That's... big," said Rika, staring up at the brute of a machine, and the others which were being put down until there were six of the metal contraptions, standing sentinel over everyone and everything. "That's... mental."

"I don't believe I have any qualms about our upcoming battle anymore," smiled Renamon. "How fast are they?"

"Not very," said Ember. "But they make up with it with sheer brute strength. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of one of those things. They could blast you to atoms in seconds with those cannons."

"Alright, everyone," Shaak Ti clapped her hands. "Get to your positions."

As Thi-Sen gave a similar instruction to his warriors, Renamon tapped Shaak Ti on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me for mentioning this, but how haven't actually told Rika and I where our positions are."

"I know," Shaak Ti's eyes seemed to twinkle. "I thought I'd show you."

* * *

"This is so cool," Rika said, grinning uncharacteristically as she looked around the small room. "You reckon I could fire those big suckers during the battle?"

"I don't see why not," the clone pilot, Chester, laughed at the enthusiasm of the kid. "But only if you allow Khaz and I to aim."

"Yeah," grinned Khaz. "We wouldn't want you accidentally blowing up any of the Talz now, would we? That'd go down a storm."

Rika laughed. She was standing in the cockpit of the front-most AT-AT, which was, in all fairness, the safest place to be right now. She'd discarded the oversized coat, having no further need for it, and she stood between the clone pilots, watching them plod forward slowly through the thin window, and watching clone troopers, many of them mounted on AT-RTs, and Talz warriors, many of them mounted on narglatches, marching steadfastly around the enormous feet. Quite frankly, Rika was amazed that they weren't cracking the ice beneath their feet with all the weight, but it held firm.

* * *

Renamon was also stationed at the same AT-AT, except that she was standing on top of its head instead of in it. She watched the landscape move slowly by as they thumped and thudded their way across the snow-infested surface of Orto Plutonia. The surface under her feet moved up and down in time with the steady beat of the legs, but Renamon easily kept her balance. Looking down, she saw Shaak Ti at the head of the group, striding purposefully forwards. The Togruta had removed her goggles so she'd be able to see better during combat. Rika had thankfully done the same.

* * *

Droids marched to and fro as they unloaded set up their temporary outpost. Darc had ordered them to do it, but he didn't really believe he'd need it. It should be relatively simple to crush the unsuspecting Republic forces with the attack from below, but just in case it wasn't he needed to set up a stronghold in order to regroup. You could never be too careful.

But Darc arrogantly believed that he would be able to seize Pantora in one fell swoop and take the Chairman and the Senator prisoner, along with any Pantorans that survived. The blue-skinned people were going to get what was coming to them soon enough.

Two droids bumbled past him, awkwardly carrying a crate between them. "Stop going so fast," complained one. "We need to be careful."

"Me going fast? You're going too slow!" countered the other one.

"I am not."

"Are so."

"Am not."

"Are so."

"Am not."

"Are so."

"Am not."

"Are sWARRGH!"

The droid tripped on an icy block and fell backwards, carrying the crate with him as he fell. The other droid also refused to let go and fell forwards. The heavy crate landed fully on the chest of the droid and dented it heavily. The other droid flopped onto the crate. Darc grimaced with distaste.

"Are you incapable of doing something right for once in your miserable existences?" he demanded.

"No, sir," sighed the droid under the crate.

"I didn't think so. What my Master ever saw in you is beyond me."

"Sorry, sir. I-"

The droid never finished his sentence, because a large spear suddenly thudded right into its neck, snapping it clean off.

"What...?" Darc looked around. Not too far away, there were five strange creatures, each one mounted on another strange cat-like creature and they were hurling spears with frightening accuracy. The droids stopped what they were doing in surprise as spears thudded into their heads and bodies with enough force to puncture them and disable them. Darc narrowed his eyes. The droids had said the planet was uninhabited, and these were obviously not Pantorans. They'd been wrong. Again.

The five Talz fitted more spears to the tips of their atlatls. These were long sticks with a curve at one end for the back end of a spear to nestle into, while they held the other end, and was decided to increase the length of their throwing arm and thus get greater throwing distance. They were easily out of range of the droid blasters as they threw their heavy, bone spears.

Darc ignited his lightsaber and slashed straight threw a spear heading right for him, cleaving it down the middle so two halves hit the ground either side of him. "Well, don't just stand there, you idiots!" he shouted at the droids. "Go and kill those things."

"Roger, ro-" The droid speaking met its end with a spear to the head. They began to march quickly forwards, somehow managing to form themselves into ranks as they progressed towards the Talz and their narglatch mounts. They raised their blaster and let fly. The lasers sizzled out of existence before they struck the Talz, but, soon enough, they began to hit the snow around their feet.

The five Talz backed away slowly, throwing spears almost continuously, keeping just out of range of the droids, until they'd completely run out of spears. They continued backing away. Darc laughed. They might have had the sense to take on something they could beat or at least have enough spears for.

Suddenly, and to the utter surprise of the droids, ten more Talz rose up from the ground right in front of them, heaving been completely submerged beneath the snow. The Talz roared and leapt upon the hapless droids, tearing them limb from limb with the massive paws and ripping their heads off with bursts of strength. Confused, the droids shot back, managing to hit several of their one comrades in the confined space, but two of the Talz fell to the lasers and lay still.

Satisfied, the Talz began to retreat, dodging and weaving the clumsy shots of the droids and leaping along at frightening speed for something their size. "After them!" cried the incensed Darc. "Fill them with holes, you mindless fools!"

The thirteen Talz became twelve to a lucky shot in the back by one of the droids, but the remaining twelve bade a steady retreat over the lip of a hill. The droids followed, marching soundlessly because of the snow and reaching the lip of the hill.

* * *

At which point, Rika pushed the button Khaz offered her, a grin on her face.

A large number of the droid forces were suddenly vaporised by the heavy fire of the cannons of the AT-ATs. The six giant walkers started to move forward. They'd been just out of sight due to the hill blocking them from sight of the droids and now they let loose with terrific destructive consequences for the droids. Snow fountained and ice flew as the ground around the droid cracked and was thrown skyward by the force of the blasts. The heads rotated on their flexible necks for a new angle and soon the vanguard of the marching droids were peppered with holes.

"I think we're in trouble," remarked one of the droids.

Darc was ogling in confusion and disbelief. He'd never seen anything like these walkers before and he could see huge numbers of the indigenous Talz and clone troopers charging from around the enormous feet. Lasers cut through the air, barely visible in the white snow and mowed down what droids avoided the blasts of the AT-ATs. The Talz warriors, lead by Thi-Sen, charged forwards on their narglatches, spears raised above their heads as they met the droids head on. Several fell to droid blaster fire, but there were hundreds of Talz and they slammed into what was now the front line. The original front line had already been decimated.

The narglatches tore into the droids with ruthless efficiency and the Talz slammed down their cudgels or swung their pointed spears at the droids. The clones ran up a little behind the Talz and brought bolts of blue plasma smashing into the bemused droids. The AT-ATs, as a result, aimed higher to pick off droids from the middle instead. Occasionally a clone or a Talz would fall to a shot, and even a few of the narglatches fell, but the number of dying droids was considerable higher.

Darc heard the whirring of a lightsaber blade and his head whipped around.

There. Off to the right.

A Jedi! And a Council Member!

* * *

Shaak Ti swept her blade through the nearest battle droid, reflected the fire of four more at once before stabbing her blade into one, then dropping down and sweeping the legs from another two with a circular spin, then bouncing the bolt of another right back into its face. The Togruta whirled and span and her blade seemed to have a mind of its own. She slashed through heads, stabbed through chests, swung through abdomens and kicking droids aside. She elbowed a droid aside, then double-span past another to slash it once through the chest, then the neck. She twirled between two bolts and used the Force to blast three droids backwards and mow down the ranks behind them like dominos.

Shaak Ti bounced high, deflecting three bolts in the air, falling blade first onto a droid, then sweeping the tip of blue through three at once, spring over the falling bodies to cut one down the middle and sweep diagonally upwards through another. By then, the droids had retreated from her somewhat and let loose a barrage of shots at her. Reacting quickly, Shaak Ti leviatated several huge chunks of ice thrown up by the AT-AT blasts and held them in front of her to take the fire of the droids, before banishing them and crushing dozens of them underneath. Then she cut through the chest of one and span the blade through another.

* * *

Darc scowled, then activated the comlink on his wrist. He spoke to the droid pilots in charge of the frigates. "Lift off," he said. "Don't land them again until I say so. Just get the ships out of the way."

With that, he raised his blade and dived into the battle himself. A clone whirled around and attempted to shoot at him, but the red blade brushed aside the blaster fire and curved into the clone.

* * *

Renamon unfolded her arms. They were coming over the hill now, which meant it was time for her to make her move. She leapt down from where she was standing until she was directly in front of the little window. She glanced through the glass at Rika, and she nodded. Rika pulled out a card, shut her eyes and the card turned blue. Renamon smiled, and, as Rika slashed it through her digivice, she leapt off the nose of the AT-AT.

"Digi-modify! Matrix Digivolution Activate!"

"**RENAMON MATRIX-DIGIVOLVE TO... TAOMON!"**

The fox-shaman Ultimate-level Digimon appeared and abruptly stopped falling, floating in mid-air with no visible means of support. She advanced through the air, unheeded by the broiling battleground of clone, droid and Talz below. At least until she began to add her own assault. Aiming her arms with the overlong sleeves down towards the droids, she cried **"THOUSAND SPELLS!"**

Hundreds of magical, red spell papers erupted from the sleeves from her robe and lanced down, straight as dies, to pepper the droids below. Hundreds of small explosions punctured holes in the droids as Taomon rained deactivation and destruction down on them from above.

The droids turned to shoot up at her, but Taomon pulled a symbol of mid-air with a cry of **"TALISMAN SPELL!"** She immediately raised a shield before her that absorbed and dispersed the droids that managed to hit it. The distracted droids quickly fell prey to clone blaster, Talz spear-point of narglatch teeth.

She was the precursor of doom on the droids, dropping her shield and pouring more spell papers down below. The AT-ATs behind her continued moving forwards in her waking, adding to her mayhem.

"Let's show them what we've got, Taomon," said Rika in her cockpit.

"It'll be my pleasure, Rika," Taomon replied from outside. Slipping one sleeve inside the other, she withdrew and long, thick paintbrush impossibly from the sleeve, a weapon that was longer than her arm. But then, she was a magical Digimon. She could just do things. Taomon dropped her altitude until she fell, literally, onto the droids. Her brush beaned the first droid in the head as she came down, then she swung, holding the brush in both hands like a staff and smashed another droid round the back of the head, sending it spinning, then delivered a sharp crack to the chest of another.

_I've lost track of how many of these things I killed over the last few months,_ she thought, as she swung the brush into the shoulder knocking it askew as she span and gave it a crushing blow to the side. She span again, smashing another upside the head as she did and finishing the wheel with a heavy thud into the armpit of another, then, raising the brush above her head, she brought it down, smashing the head of another into a flat piece of metal.

She stepped backwards as a blaster bolt shot past her face and she quickly disarmed the droid responsible by knocking the blaster from its hand with one end, then spinning to strike it in the head with the other end of the brush. Another moved forward, but that too got hit in the head, and the one to the side of it received a staff to its hip, throwing it into the two next to it. Then, out of nowhere, she pulled out another symbol and cried **"TALISMAN STAR!"** and she threw it. Like a boomerang, the symbol zoomed through the droids, slicing metal as it skimmed through the droid torsos.

* * *

Shaak Ti whirled around as the Force screamed at her and she saw a man with a red lightsaber falling towards her, his red lightsaber raised over his head to cleave her head in two. Shaak Ti rose her blade to meet it and blocked it inches from her face. After a second of straining, she pushed backwards. Jedi and Sith stood amidst the chaos, momentarily unheeded by the combatants around them, as they stared at each other.

"Master Ti," spat Darc. "Nice to see you, I don't think."

"Artel Darc, if I'm not mistaken," answered Shaak Ti, briskly. "So, the rumours were true. You have joined up with the Separatists."

"And I haven't looked back since I have," growled Darc. "You Jedi are all corrupt now. You deserve nothing more than a slow, painful Death for the way you poison our galaxy. You're upsetting the natural balance of power."

"How? By not using it?" Shaak Ti frowned.

"You need to be wiped off the face of the galaxy," snarled Darc.

"I apologise for interrupting," Shaak Ti said. "But if this is going to be the usual Sith rhetoric, I have heard it all before. I've drawn the line Darc. I'm giving you the opportunity to leave in peace and leave Pantora and Orto Plutonia alone. If you do not, I will need to do whatever I can to defend it."

"Never!" growled Darc.

Shaak Ti sighed. "Somehow I expected you to say that," she said.

Darc yelled in defiance of her facetiousness and swung his blade. Shaak Ti ducked under it, but Darc quickly recovered and aimed a blow at her midsection, but Shaak Ti's blade was there to meet it, instantly. She shoved it off to the side, throwing Darc off balance, so he moved with it and brought the blade swinging back around after a full turn, but the Togruta had already leapt backwards and the blade breezed harmlessly past her stomach.

Darc stepped forwards and took another swing, but he was blocked again. Swing. Block. Swing. Block. Shaak Ti was making this look easy, parrying his strikes effortlessly, but she wasn't attempting to do any striking back of her own. Was she toying with him? Darc shoved the idea to one side and attempted to drive his blade through her stomach. Shaak Ti swung to one side and added a strike of her own, which Darc was barely able to block. Stumbling backwards, Sarc glared furiously and threw a large chunk of ice at her, but the Jedi Master jumped right over it, landing on top of the flying thing and leaping off again to land, unharmed, as the ice crushed many droids.

Shaak Ti threw a hand out and blasted Darc backwards with a burst of the Force. He was thrown backwards and skidded on the ice, sliding painfully to a halt. He scrambled to his feet, but Shaak Ti was already in motion. Snow was rising into the air around her as her hand called it up and with a motion, Shaak Ti stretched out her fingers and a miniature snowstorm streamed towards Darc. Darc lost his footing again and he struggled wildly as the snow washed over him, cold and unforgiving, covering him in a layer of thick cold.

Shaak Ti relented her attack, watching the mound of ice that Darc was now buried under. It didn't move for a couple of seconds. Then Darc burst out of the mound with a cry of rage and charged Shaak Ti, bringing his lightsaber to bare. Shaak Ti hurriedly blocked two swings to the abdomen, surprised slightly. She'd been expecting a Force move back, such as Force Lightning but it appeared that Darc hadn't advanced high enough to learn that in Dooku's opinion. Darc swung again, and replied with another after Shaak Ti's block, powering down and pushing the Jedi Master to the ground, then releasing to whirl about and slash, but Shaak Ti had leapt backwards. It appeared he was trying to drown her in blade strikes.

He took a slash at her and she reversed her grip slightly to parry the blow, swerving back to avoid another and sidestepping a downward slash. Darc aimed for her feet but the tip of her blade met his and stopped it, so he lashed at her chest, but she stopped that too. Both whirled around and their blades crashed together, Darc trying to force his in Shaak Ti's head. Shaak Ti broke the stalemate and rolled to one side.

"Stop moving so I can cut you up!" roared Darc.

"And I would do that because...?" Shaak Ti shook her head. "I gave you the chance Darc. Now it's my turn."

Darc's eyes widened as Shaak Ti leapt forward, her blade singing as it blazed towards his head. He just managed to block, but three more blows swiped at him and he had to dodge and duck to avoid the blue death. This resulted in him being bludgeoned in the side the moment he got up, pummelled by flying bits of ice. Shaak Ti followed after them, sweeping her blade up from so low it went through the ground on its way.

Darc rolled to one side and the lightsaber barely missed his foot. Hurriedly, Darc swung at Shaak Ti's back, but the blade appeared over her shoulder and blocked. He took another swing, but Shaak Ti used the Force to stop his arm in mid-swing and toss him backwards once more. Then she leapt for him, corckscrewing through the air and threatening to skewer him. Darc leapt backwards and Shaak Ti's blade slammed into the ground where he'd been, cutting a deep dent in it. She immediately kicked him in the face, causing him to stumble backwards in surprise and pain. When he looked up, he saw Shaak Ti dart forward and swing her blade from right to left.

Darc desperately parried the blow, took a step backwards and took a swing at Shaak Ti's exposed wrist. But it wasn't there. Shaak Ti let go of her lightsaber and withdrew her hand so the red blade passed between weapon and wielder. Shaak Ti whirled under the red blade and caught her lightsaber with the other hand, twirled and swiped the blade straight through Darc's chest. Darc stood for a second, gasping in pain, and then collapsed to the ground.

Dead.

Shaak Ti looked down at his corpse and sighed. It always pained her to take a life, and thankfully she hadn't had to do it often. She hadn't wanted the kill Darc, which was why she'd given him the chance. But once it became clear that he'd made his choice and was sticking to it, she'd done what she had to. But that didn't mean she had to like it.

* * *

As Taomon brought the brush slamming through a droid's legs, a whirring noise caught her attention. Looking up, she saw the large frigates the Separatists had landed in were beginning to lift off the ground. Laser turrets across the lengths of the ships swerved around and began to fire on the enemy, but they dissipated on the huge shield Taomon quickly brought up. Grunting with the effort, Taomon called out with her mind.

_Rika,_ she said. _Tell the AT-AT pilots to focus their fire on the frigates before they get out of range._

Rika repeated the instruction to the pilots and they nodded in confirmation. The heads of all six AT-AT swerved upwards and they began to empty their barrels into the departing spacecraft. The droids inside them hurriedly diverted all available power to the shields the protected the bottom of the ship, and the heavy lasers shook and juddered the shields, but they held firm.

But by intensifying the bottom shields, the droids had left the top of the frigates practically defenceless. In the ensuing chaos, nobody saw the humanoid fox-like creature soar upwards gracefully until she was above the slowly rising frigates. With paintbrush firmly held in both hands, Taomon looked down at the frigates rising steadily towards her. Aiming the brush end at the nearest one, Taomon painted a symbol in mid-air, crying **"TALISMAN OF LIGHT!"**

The symbol shot forwards, glowing a fierce white and struck the hull of the ship. Abruptly it began to grow until it stretched right across the metal of the ship and then the light intensified even further. With a rending of metal the ship was suddenly shorn into pieces, cut across any area where the symbol glowed.

Taomon didn't look at the results. She had already moved onto another, which immediately got the same treatment. The remaining four continued to rise, when they were immediately met by laser fire from above. LAAT gunships soared into the area, discharging hundreds of green beams and bolts on the surfaces of the ships. The propulsion systems on two of them failed and they began to fall, being blown to pieces.

The droids inside another panicked and immediately reset the shields so all power was diverted to the top to prevent from this new attack. And that was a mistake, as the six AT-AT walkers down below were still shooting at it. They're lasers could now get through and they tore into the base of the ship, exploding the engines and fracturing the sensor relay. Explosions rocked the vessel and it began to fall after the others.

The final ship rose hurriedly in a desperate attempt to get out of the war-zone. Droids were pushing buttons and flipping switches as fast as their minds and bodies would allow. Then one of them looked out of the window.

"Hey, look" he said, pointing.

The other droids looked, and saw Taomon floating just outside the window. She waved cheerfully. Bemused, the droids waved back. Then Taomon's expression hardened and she lifted her paintbrush. **"TALISMAN OF LIGHT!" **she cried once more. The symbol glued itself to the window and grew until the entire bridge of the ship was enveloped in light. Then it burnt straight through and the bridge imploded. With no-one at the controls and no controls for there to be someone at, the ship began to plummet downwards as well.

* * *

The droids by now could finally see that things were not going their way, although many of them were ripped to pieces, flattened or shot just as they were realising this. Once they realised that their way off the planet was gone and their leader was also gone and that they were also getting massacred, most of them turned and ran.

Commander Ember noticed this. While the AT-ATs began to open fire once more on the retreating droids, he activated his comlink and shouted into it. "Move out, men! Don't let a single clanker get away!"

"Yes, sir!" barked a voice from the other end. Then, from around the cliff edges on the other side of the wide expanse where the droids had landed, more clones appeared, as well as the usual AT-TE walkers. AT-RTs ran in from the sides, appearing from places they didn't look capable of being concealed and mowed the droids down. What remained of the droids were now, effectively, surrounded. They stumbled to a shocked halt, and within a few short minutes, every single droid was reduced to scrap, whether that be from spear, club, blaster, cannon, or the explosions from the falling frigates. It didn't matter – the result was the same.

The last droid on the battle field had his head smashed off by Thi-Sen. The Talz chieftain raised his club and bellowed in triumph. The Talz warriors joined in his cry, and even the clones couldn't resist the opportunity to have a good cheer, thrusting their blasters into the air and shouting out to the sky.

Taomon landed besides Shaak Ti, who was still standing beside the fallen body of Artel Darc. Taomon looked down at the slash-mark carved and cauterised in Darc's chest. "Nice work," she murmured sidelong to the Togruta Jedi Master.

"I did give him the choice," Shaak Ti shook her head sadly. "But he was too immersed in the Dark Side."

Taomon nodded. "You did your duty."

"I know. It's just, I wish I knew where he went wrong. What mistake we made in losing him to the Dark Side."

"You can't know everything," Taomon said wryly.

"I know that too. But I can try. Nice form by the way."

Taomon grinned and with a flash she reverted to Renamon. "You still haven't seen my full potential."

"Well, let's hope I'll never have to."

"Agreed."

* * *

Senator Chuchi had thanked Thi-Sen gratefully for his part in the defence of Pantora, promising the Talz that if there were anything they required and the Pantorans could give it to them, they needn't hesitate to ask, and they were going to work on setting up communications between them. Thi-Sen had said he probably wouldn't use it much, but thanked Chuchi for the offer anyway.

A couple of hours later, the _Serenity_ was once more loaded with clones. The fleet was beginning to break off from around Pantora and prepare the long journey home back to Coruscant. Some would stay, just in case there was a retaliation attempt by the Separatists, but it might take them a while to work out what had happened to their fleet.

Artel Darc's body had been placed in the medical bay, ready for the trip back to Coruscant. Dark Acolyte or not, the Jedi still wanted to give most of their enemies a proper send-off. Perhaps not Dooku or Ventress, who were seriously misguided, but Darc still counted as a loss.

But the _Serenity_ was not going to take a direct route back to Coruscant. It had the co-ordinates set for another location entirely. A couple of hours after the jump to hyperspace, the cruiser emerged seemingly in the middle of nowhere. But then, another cruiser emerged from the opposite direction and hovered beside the _Serenity._

It was the _Intrepid_ and it was here to exchange a couple of passengers.

A docking tunnel extended from the _Serenity_ and latched firmly onto a docking port on the other cruiser. Rika, Renamon and Shaak Ti walked down it and towards the other cruiser. The door on the other side opened and Commander Bly saluted them. Rika punched him playfully on the shoulder as she passed.

"I hear it went well," said the French accent of Aayla Secura, turning the corner and walking towards them. Terriermon and Lopmon soared over each shoulder, while Henry and Suzie walked behind the Twi'lek Jedi Knight.

"I doubt it could have gone much better," smiled Shaak Ti, as Terriermon landed in Renamon's arms and she pointedly looked away from what they were doing. "The AT-AT walkers were a complete success."

"And Pantora?"

"Never had a battle droid set foot on it."

"Congratulations," said Henry, walking over to Rika. "You managed to get out of there in one piece."

"Good to see you too, Henry," Rika smiled.

"I do have a question though," said Henry. "When we were on Sullust, Terriermon burst out laughing for no apparent reason and when we asked him about it he said it involved you, but wouldn't give us any more information. What was he laughing about?"

Rika went red and glared at Terriermon, being held in her partner's arms. "You better not tell anyone," she growled at him.

"Meh," Terriermon laughed. "I'll save it for parties." _Gogglegirl._

Rika growled at the word he sent into her brain via Renamon. He burst out laughing and Renamon chuckled a little.

"Have you managed to figure them out yet, Aayla?" Shaak Ti shook her head at the antics of Tamer and Digimon.

"I doubt I ever will," smiled Aayla affectionately. "But I will do my very best."

Lopmon suddenly appeared on Shaak Ti's shoulder. "In the words of my brother, nobody will ever truly be able to figure us out." She grinned. Shaak Ti looked across at her.

"We'll see about that," she said. Then she turned to Rika and Renamon. "Well, I guess this is goodbye for now. I need to deliver Darc's body to the Jedi Temple and make my report to the Council."

"You are a skilled Jedi, Shaak Ti," Renamon observed. "I hope we work together again at some point in the future."

"As do I," said Shaak Ti. "But the future is elusive as ever these days. Only time will tell."

Suzie humphed. "Well, you can't be a very good Jedi if you can't tell the future. Aayla told me I was going to live until I was a-hundred-and-seven, marry a man named Boris and have six children."

Shaak Ti raised a brow and looked sidelong at Aayla. Aayla did the Rutian Twi'lek equivalent of blushing and leaned over to whisper. "When she found out we can sometimes see the future she demanded that I look into hers. I was told she would keep asking until I gave her some kind of answer."

"You made it up?"

"Terriermon gave me some ideas."

Shaak Ti rolled her eyes. "I never would have believed it of you."

"Momentai."

"Will everyone stop saying that! It's my word." Terriermon eyeballed Aayla, who was grinning cheekily.

Shaak Ti laughed, and after saying her final goodbyes, departed back to _Serenity_. The docking tunnel unlatched once she was safely back on board and the two ships turned together, until they were facing the direction that was Coruscant. Then, with a brief whirr, they disappeared into the distance in the blink of an eye.

* * *

Well, there you have it. For those of you who don't know the original Star Wars story, Artel Darc did indeed face off against and was killed by Shaak Ti, except it happened on the planet Dagu and much later during the war than this. Just a little thing to think about - my story is not going to obediently follow Star Wars canon. I'm going off on my own tangent slwoly but surely. Hope I did Shaak Ti justice.

As my readers may know, Ultimate level Digimon have yet to appear in the Star Wars universe. And this is only set a few months from the start. So they're on their way.

No idea who the next oneshot is for yet, but keep the reviews coming and we'll soon find out.


	3. Forget The Prophecy

Bookworm Gal was my 100th reviewer, but she requested something other than a oneshot, which I was only too happy to oblige to. Therefore, this oneshot is for my 150th reviewer, Zephyrclaws. This is strictly a crackfic, and, despite being integrated with "Secret of the 327th", this does not actually occur in it.

In order for it to make sense, you should at least read up to Chapter 29 of the original story. That might take you some time, but, hey, I'm just here to write requests.

**

* * *

**

Every Fifty

**Oneshot 3:- Forget the Prophecy**

**Rating:- T**

**Worlds:- Digimon Tamers, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Harry Potter**

* * *

Teska span wildly, yelling as the invisible thing hit him in the legs and he went tumbling backwards, then it felt like an invisible foot was suddenly planted in his chest and he went hurtling backwards in the wall. He fell and landed, dazed and winded on a platform.

"What is going on?" asked Ahsoka.

"That would be me," something landed right next to her with a thud. Startled she leapt back, readying her blade. And she stopped. That voice. It was high-pitched and incredibly familiar.

What was standing beside her was something like she'd never seen before. A tall frame, about the same height as Teska, with green, spherical armour around the pelvic and chest areas, the torso linking them was a bright white colour. Two semi-spherical armour plates rested on the shoulders and the arms consisted on something like two, green bazookas. The legs were encased with equally green and slightly pointed boots. Attached to its back was a small missile launcher. The head too, was covered in armour, so that only the eyes were visible, as well as the ends of the long two green, segmented, red-tipped ears sweeping back from it. To cap it off, he had the little bob-tail of a rabbit.

"How's it going?" it asked.

"Gargomon?" Aayla breathed, staring at the new being.

"Yes and no," said the Digimon. "I'm the same person, yes. But this is my Ultimate form, and I go by a different name now."

Teska awkwardly pushed himself upwards and stared at his attacker. "What are you?" he groaned angrily, getting to his feet.

The Digimon turned to glare at him. "I'm Rapidmon. And I'm gonna kick your ass."

Rapidmon leapt off the platform and hovered in front of Teska, with no visible means of support. Teska's jet thrusters activated and he rose into the air too, pointing his quad-cannon, which was now a tri-cannon, at him. Rapidmon suddenly hurtled forwards and vanished. At almost precisely the same time, Rapidmon brought his foot into the small of Teska's back. As Teska lurched forwards, Rapidmon's foot suddenly came swinging into his face in a perfect roundhouse kick. He was moving so fast he was almost teleporting.

Teska angrily sent a small swarm of missiles at Rapidmon. Yawning, Rapidmon span and twisted in mid-air, easily dodging and flipping over the missiles sent his way. He zoomed across the room, zipping from side-to-side with the agility of a dragonfly as the rockets shot past him and exploded uselessly on the wall behind him. Rapidmon ducked under another and suddenly spurted forwards to smash Teska in the stomach.

"Not so tough now that someone else can fly, are you?" Rapidmon laughed, as Teska reeled back, attempting to clutch his stomach with the stump of his missing arm.

Teska's chest cavity opened and the laser erupted towards Rapidmon. Unconcerned, Rapidmon hung in the air until the last second, where he vanished in a blur and the laser continued going through where he now wasn't. A voice over Teska's shoulder said, "You missed." Teska turned to see a cannon-arm flying forwards and hitting him in the face, cracking the metal faceplate.

"Now, this is impressive," Anakin approached Aayla and Ahsoka and all three watched the aerial, one-sided brawl. "He doesn't look like he's even trying," he commented, as Rapidmon zoomed towards Teska, vanishing the second before impact and ramming him in the back instead.

"That's because he isn't," Turuiemon's voice replied. The Jedi turned to see the other two, still in their Champion forms, jumping upwards towards them from platform to platform, until they were standing beside the Jedi. "He hasn't even used any of his attacks yet."

"We'd be able to take Teska too, if we could just get close to him," said Ahsoka, watching with admiration as Rapidmon shot vertically down from above and ploughed into Teska. "How does he do that hovering?"

"And how tough is his armour that he's not getting injured by ramming an armoured Skakoan constantly?" asked Aayla.

"Don't try to fully understand us, because even we can't do that," said Kyubimon. "Let's just say that he just can and his armour is very, very tough."

"He's certainly very fast," said Anakin.

"Apparently he can move at almost light-speed if he wants to," said Turuiemon, "although our Rapidmon has never tried that."

"Too bad we don't have any popcorn," said Kyubimon. Turuiemon laughed. The Jedi were too busy watching to ask what popcorn was.

Rapidmon flashed in and booted Teska squarely in the face, then swung in from the side to belt him under the missing arm. Teska spun about and fired the quad-cannon, but Rapidmon wasn't there anymore and the Digimon's arm swung into Teska's abdomen and his foot knocked the cannon askew. Then they hooked behind Teska's knee and hauled, sending the Skakoan spinning. Two strikes later, one to the front and the other to the back of the head almost instantly, and Teska thudded into the wall again.

Rapidmon hung in the air before him. "Come on. Are you trying to let me win?" he asked. "Time to get serious. **MIRACLE MISSILE!"** Rockets similar in size to Teska sprang from the launcher on Rapidmon's back and wheeled around, shooting towards Teska. Hurriedly, Teska raised his force-field and the missiles were stopped, just. He was still battered backwards by the force of the blows.

"You'll have to do better than that," he growled, pleased with this little victory.

"Really? Okay," Rapidmon raised his arms. "Try these on for size." Rapidmon raised them above his head one after the other and brought them down. **"RAPID FIRE!"** he cried, and he sent one enormous rocket from each arm. Teska gasped and braced his shield, but these rockets were the equivalent of those on a gunship. No shield the size of Teska's could stand up to them and Teska was blown backwards, the shield sputtering and dying completely as he smashed into the wall and slumped down.

"This isn't real!" Teska screamed. "I can't be beaten."

"If this isn't real," said Rapidmon, "Then I reject your reality and substitute my own."

Teska roared and leapt to his feet. Rapidmon smirked under the face-mask. It looked like he was going to try one last, ditch-attempt to stop him. Sure enough, Teska's missile-launcher shoulder-pads, raised up and he sent a small swarm of them streaming towards him, trailing smoke and whistling as they came.

"Why don't you just give up already?" Rapidmon yawned as they came shooting for his stomach. "We both know that isn't going to work." He raised his cannon-arms and cried **"RAPID FIRE!"** again.

The missiles streaked out of their wide sockets and joined the whistling of Teska's own missiles. "Bazinga," said Rapidmon as they launched and missile streaked towards missile at high speed.

They met in the air in a head-on collision that rocked the room. Both sets of missiles were obliterated in the attack from the other, creating an explosion that shook the foundations of the entire facility. Aayla, Anakin, Ahsoka, Kyubimon and Turuiemon shielded their eyes from the terrific combustion.

And as a result, they didn't see what happened next.

Somehow, impossibly, the smoke from the explosion suddenly cleared, but it didn't disperse into the air. It looked like it was suddenly sucked into the centre of itself and disappear into nothingness, as if it had gone up a hoover. Rapidmon and Teska stared as the spot where the last of the smoke vanished seemed to glow blue for a brief moment, before expanding outwards into a great, strange, sky-blue circle that hung in the air.

"What the..." Rapidmon was about to say something extremely rude when he felt something else. He felt a suction, a tug on his limbs and body, as if _he_ was being targeted by a hoover. A very, very big hoover indeed. The hoover from hell. It was coming from the strange blueness that hovered between him and his opponent.

Rapidmon swore and attempted to move backwards, but somehow he ended up going forwards instead. Forwards, forwards, forwards.

Straight into the swirling vortex in front of him – for that's what it was. He recognised it only too well. Inside it there were numerous other colours, mostly purples with flashes of green and orange. It looked exactly like the vortex that Parallelmon had initiated in order to drag them into this alternate reality in the first place.

"Oh, not again!" he cried as he was catapulted straight into the mouth of the whirlpool-like hole.

"What the hell is going on?" he cried to himself as he span down straight through the hole, his natural ability to hover in the air completely defunct in here. He tumbled and span and dipped and shot from side to side, no control of his movements whatsoever.

_Am I going home?_ He asked himself. _I can't go home now. What about Henry? What about everyone else – are they coming? What about the Jedi – they need my help?_

Rapidmon attempted to wrench himself around to look behind him, but the vortex resisted his attempts to turn around. Fortunately, it did it by spinning him the opposite way, so he ended up looking behind him anyway. He could no longer see the facility – just endless swirling vortex ahead and on either side.

However, he did see Kul Teska.

The Skakoan, still brutally smashed thanks to his attack, and missing his arm, courtesy of Aayla, was doing pretty much the same as him – zipping about and not doing it of his own accord. His jet-thrusters were inactive, but that didn't stop the vortex from keeping him in the air, presumably because it had never heard of gravity.

It was a good thing Rapidmon didn't suffer from motion-sickness.

"What the heck is happening?" Rapidmon shouted at Teska. "What have you done?"

"What have I done?" Teska shouted, unable to look at him as he cartwheeled unwillingly through the air. "I have done nothing."

"I don't believe you!" Rapidmon yelled. "Take us back now!"

"I will not comply to your demands," Teska practically shrieked, and Rapidmon could detect a mix of fear and anger. "Die, whatever you are!"

Teska opened fire again, but his aim in the vortex was terrible. The missile shoulder-pads required him to be facing his opponent in order to aim in the right direction. As a result, the missiles were flung all over the place and disappeared in multiple directions. Only one made it anywhere near Rapidmon's vicinity, and it was still several metres wide.

"If you don't take us back!" Rapidmon readied his cannons and tucked his legs into his chest so they wouldn't get in the way, "Then I swear to Fanglongmon that you will be blown to smithereens where you stand. Spin. Whatever."

"This is not my doing," Teska cried. "I have no control over our progress."

"You asked for it!" Rapidmon's own missiles could be fired from launchers that were much easier to aim. He swung his arms around and let loose two great rockets in Teska's direction. It was still very difficult to aim, and as a result, one of them went sailing past the Skakoan, but the other one clipped his side and exploded. Teska howled in agony and the jarring explosion caused him to change direction.

Skakoan and Digimon suddenly separated and went flying in opposite directions. Rapidmon sent another missile streaking after his departing adversary for good measure, before attempting to look in the direction that he himself was falling in. It looked as though the vortex was thinning out slightly – the green and orange explosions of colour were giving way to the same sky blue that the original wormhole had been.

_Well, what awaits me on the other side,_ he thought to himself.

He expected Kyubimon to answer, but she didn't.

Rapidmon had a moment's startled realisation that she had said anything to him throughout the whole two minutes he'd been tumbling through the vortex. He could still feel her presence, further away than it had ever been before now, but she wasn't responding.

But before he could dwell on the subject, the vortex suddenly ended.

Rapidmon was disgorged into a bright kaleidoscope of lights. He had to force his eyes to stay open at the sudden brightness, and what he saw were buildings. Lots of them, everywhere he looked. He was in a city, and the lights were just coming from the lightbulbs shining out the window. It was midday. That in itself made him feel weird. It had been about evening when he'd been on Behpour.

The momentum from the vortex made him shoot forwards. He was about twenty metres above a busy looking street, packed with cars and vans, several honking their horns annoyingly. Rapidmon zoomed downwards, but he quickly put on the proverbial brakes and levelled off, skimming the top of a nearby car and rising hurriedly to avoid the van behind it.

Rapidmon caught brief glimpses of astonished and frightened human faces through the windshields at his sudden appearance. _Get over it,_ Rapidmon thought to himself. Looking up, he saw no less than three double-decker buses moving slowly forwards and towards him.

"WHOOOO!" he yelled to everybody in the city as he swerved around the first one, then the second, crying "Slalom! Slalom, baby! WOOT!" The Ultimate level Digimon did a lap of honour around the third bus, stopping for a moment to give a salute to the dumbfounded and confused driver, then turned to look around.

The street was lined with humans who'd all seemingly forgotten what they'd been doing and had turned to stare at him. Shopping bags fell to the floor, kids pointed excitedly, or alternatively they hid behind their flabbergasted parents, many of which looked like they want to hide behind something themselves. A nearby dog barked at him.

"What are you looking at?" Rapidmon demanded at a group of men who had been drunk but were now sober with shock. "You never seen a Digimon before?"

They were too shocked to reply to this question. Rapidmon took one last look at the staring crowd, before announcing, "Momentai, everyone. I'm gone," before rocketing vertically upwards and high into the sky, well above the buildings.

Now, he could see a clear view of the city. It lay like a sprawling sea of lights and loud noises right across the ground below him. Rapidmon frowned and wondered where he's ended up. It looked like Earth – there were certainly no species similar to Aayla or Ahsoka around the place, or similar to him either.

Rapidmon swung around and scanned the city with his eyes. Where was he? Where was he? Where was he?

And suddenly he knew where he was.

The enormous clock tower with the lighted face on one side of a wide river running through the city, with an enormous Ferris wheel on the other side of the same river was a bit of a clue.

"Big Ben?" Rapidmon asked himself. "The London Eye? The _London_ Eye? I'm in fricking London. Oh hell."

And indeed he was. From this height he began to pick up on a few other features, like the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and St. Paul's Cathedral. He briefly considered dropping in to see the queen, just to see the look on her face when he appeared at the window, but he decided against it.

There was something else that was bothering him.

The absence of Kyubimon's thoughts.

He delved into her mind and looked out through her eyes. Out of the corner of them, he saw Aayla shielding her eyes from something, but otherwise, Kyubimon was looking at the room that he'd been in before. Only she wasn't moving. Neither was Aayla. The two of them had just stopped. So had the great weapon they'd been battling Teska in front of. It was as if the other world had just frozen.

"O-kay," Rapidmon said to himself. "This is getting a little weird." _Kyubimon. Kyubimon. Are you alright?_

No response.

_Hello?_

Still no response.

Rapidmon frowned. _Right,_ he thought_, I'm in London in the Human World. For some reason, the other world has completely frozen, so I can't get any messages to Kyubimon and she's not doing anything to me. I'm on my own, which means I can't digivolve, so I better stay in this form for as long as I can, in case I run into any threats._

_I wonder if I can contact Yamaki. But he'll be in Tokyo, maybe still trying to find us. It's a long way there, and how am I supposed to find me way. I know the general direction, but still..._

Rapidmon pondered his predicament. But then, he saw something that made him stop and blink.

What the...

He wasn't alone. There was something else hovering right next to him.

In his delvings into the eyes of his mate, Rapidmon hadn't noticed the strange orange glow that had appeared right next to him. Now he looked at it, and saw that there was a large bird sitting next to him in mid-air. Its wings were folded to its sides, and it seemed to be perching on air, defying gravity. Rapidmon knew it wasn't a Digimon, but he'd never seen any Earth animal like it.

It was the size of a swan, with a similar long neck, but it had long streaming tail feathers that resembled those of a quetzal or a bird of paradise. There seemed to be a crown of orange feathers around its head, and its beak resembled that of a gull of some kind.

It was a phoenix.

And it looked much, much friendlier than the last phoenix that Rapidmon had seen. Zhuqiaomon had radiated with power and indomitable strength. This phoenix, an actual phoenix instead of a Digital one, also radiated power. It wasn't as strong, but the aura was definitely much kinder.

"Scooby Doo, eat your heart out," muttered Rapidmon to himself, staring at the bird.

The phoenix cocked its head to one side and looked at Rapidmon curiously, like some kind of dog. "Hello," Rapidmon ventured uncertainly. "Who are you? I feel like I've stepped into some weird Disney film."

The phoenix trilled a musical note, that seemed to pass right into Rapidmon and fill him up from the inside, resulting in a warm, tingling feeling, that lingered for a few seconds before disappearing. Rapidmon blinked a couple of times, then said, "Whoa."

After a couple of seconds, he added, "Do that again."

The phoenix obliged, and this time the calm, relaxing, tingly feeling lasted a couple more seconds. It made Rapidmon temporarily forget his problems and filled him with elation. It was absolutely weird. A phoenix – a genuine fricking phoenix – had appeared in front of him.

"This," said Rapidmon. "Has literally got to be the best daydream of the millennium."

The phoenix chirped and almost seemed to be smiling, despite the fact that its beak hadn't changed shape at all. Rapidmon looked at it and said, "Hokay, I am officially confused here. Maybe you can tell me where the heck I am? I was in the middle of delivering a major ass-kicking and then I find myself in the middle of London. What's the deal?"

The phoenix chirped, and somehow, weirdly, words seemed to float into Rapidmon's brain of its own accord. It was as if the phoenix was talking to him with some weird translator system.

_I need your help,_ the phoenix chirped.

"My help?" Rapidmon clarified. The phoenix nodded. "Er, I hate to tell you this, but I was kinda in the middle of helping stop a sun from being blown up, so I dunno if I have time to help a phoenix. You are a phoenix, right?"

_Yes,_ the phoenix mind-spoke.

"Well, my name's Rapidmon."

_I know._

"You do? Oh. Well, while I have absolutely stupendous telepathic talents that most human scientists would die to figure out I don't have a clue who you are."

_Fawkes._

"What?"

_My name is Fawkes._

"Oh. Cool name. Is there another one of you called Knives? Or Spoons?"

The phoenix trilled and somehow Rapidmon got the impression that he was laughing. "Glad to see you have a sense of humour," Rapidmon noted. "Do you know how I can get back?"

_Yes._

"You do? How?"

_You help me._

"Ah. Helpful."

Fawkes cocked his head again. _You strong warrior, yes?_

"Well, when I want to be," Rapidmon shrugged. "I mean, I can be a giant android taller than most of the buildings down below when I want to be, but yeah, I'm pretty damn good in this form."

_You fight many battles?_

"Hell yeah. You may have heard of the D-Reaper. It was all over the world, but I was the one who made it all weak again, with the help of same bad-ass scientist geeks and my friends."

_D-Reaper?_

"You don't know it?"

Fawkes shook his head. _Not here. This universe is not yours. Parallel universe._

"Another one?" Rapidmon asked. "Well, that's just great. Just how many are there?"

_Not the point._

"Momentai. You were saying?"

Fawkes looked down at the city beneath their hovering feet. _City in turmoil,_ he said without speaking. _Voldemort on the march. Many witches and wizards dying. The Chosen One in danger. You must help?_

"The Chosen One?" asked Rapidmon. "What, like Anakin?"

_No, not like Skywalker. Harry Potter._

"Er, you're going to have to elaborate."

Harry Potter is seventeen-year-old boy. He wizard. He have friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Also wizard and witch.

"Magic?" Rapidmon said sceptically. "Seriously."

_Yes._

"And you except me to believe that?"

_Yes._

"Damn. You know me too well. Is there any magic in my universe."

_No._

"I knew that magician at Suzie's party was a fraud," Rapidmon said triumphantly. Fawkes looked a little peeved, so Rapidmon held his cannons. "Sorry. Sorry. Keep going."

_Big trouble. Dark wizard called Voldemort taking over. He and followers attacking everybody. Deaths. Torture._

"Great. Another tyrant."

_Prophecy made many years ago,_ Fawkes went on. _About a boy. The Chosen One. Says he would defeat Dark Lord. Harry Potter is that boy. He is fighting Voldemort. But he needs help._

"And that's why I'm here?"

_Yes._

"Right then. And afterwards I'll go back?"

_Find Teska. He here too. Do the missile-collision again. You will both go back._

"And I'm assuming there's a reason why nothing seems to be moving back in the other universe."

_This one goes much faster. Had to find warrior from universe that was slower, so they could go back quick._

"And you chose me?"

_Yes._

"Perfect," Rapidmon cocked his cannons eagerly. "Point me in the right direction and I'll go level a few blocks."

_Check aim. Many innocents around._

"Yeah, I know. There almost always are."

_You help?_

"I help."

_Then follow._

The phoenix spread its majestic, wide wings, stretching them out so it looked like it had expanded in size. Every feather stuck out like individual spear-points. Then, Fawkes turned and swooped downwards. Rapidmon stayed on his tail-feathers, following the dive. The phoenix lead the way across London, levelling out above the buildings and increasing his speed. Rapidmon easily kept pace with him, resulting in two blurs, one orange and one green, zipping across the rooftops.

_Big battle happening now._

"Then I'll be there to add to the chaos."

_You very destructive._

"I know."

_Try not to destroy houses._

"Don't worry. I have a very good aim."

Then Rapidmon spotted something below. There were flashes of light coming from up ahead.

Fireworks?

At street level?

Nope. This was something else entirely.

* * *

The mission to the Ministry of Magic was taking a turn for the worse for Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry had managed to do just what he'd always wanted to do and had stunned Dolores Umbridge, the bitch responsible for the scars on the back of his hand. And they'd managed to acquire the Horcrux, the damned locket that Dumbledore had died trying to acquire.

And despite everything, it looked like he and his friends were going the same way.

Harry, who currently resembled the enormous, imposing man known as Albert Runcorn thanks to the miracle that was Polyjuice Potion, was, as of yet, not being recognised. But they'd picked up a whole load of extra problems now. For one thing, Harry had managed to alert the Ministry to their presence while taking the magical eye that once belonged to their deceased friend, Mad-Eye Moody, from Umbridge's door, and now they were trying to escape a Ministry that was in the process of being locked-down.

And on top of that, they now had a bunch of Muggle-born witches and wizards that they were trying to shepherd along with them, in order to stop them from being prosecuted for who their parents were. The Pureblood wizard-born fanatics were in control now.

Harry gritted his teeth as he and Hermione Granger, who was disguised as a middle-aged witch called Mafalda Hopkirk, were leading the Muggle-borns towards the lifts that would take them up to the fireplaces that would allow them to leave via the Floo Network.

But their other friend, Ron, still wasn't there.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief when a man who looked like Reg Cattermole, but was, in fact, Ron in disguise, stepped out of the lifts ahead of them. He was sopping wet, on account of being ordered to stop a raining office by a Death Water under the impression he was from Magical Maintenance.

The wife of the real Reg Cattermole, Mary, was one of the Muggle-born witches. She threw herself at Ron and embraced him, sobbing, "Oh Reg. I was terrified. Where were you? Runcorn saved me and, why are you so wet?"

"Water," muttered Ron, turning to Harry and attempting to shrug off the woman who thought he was her husband. "Harry. They know intruders are inside the Ministry. Something about a hole in Umbridge's office door."

Harry gritted his teeth and ordered everyone into the lifts. The numerous people managed to cram into two of them, although it was a tight fit, and they made their way up to the top floor and the Atrium. There, they saw witches and wizards hurriedly boarding up the numerous fireplaces.

"Harry," hissed Hermione, urgently. "If we're trapped here."

Fortunately, Harry had something on his side. He was Albert Runcorn – a man that many people in this room. "STOP!" he yelled, and his booming voice immediately caused everybody to halt and look over to him.

Harry quickly ushered the Muggle-borns over to one of the fireplaces, loudly exclaiming that they must be allowed to leave before everything was boarded up.

"But I thought they were here for trial," said one of the men, nervously, obviously afraid to confront Runcorn on the topic.

"Their blood is pure," Harry lied. "Purer than yours, I'll have no doubt."

"But I thought..."

"ARE YOU CONTRADICTING ME?" Harry roared in the man's face. "WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO EXAMINE YOUR FAMILY TREE, LIKE I DID DIRK CRESSWELL'S!" he blustered, using a titbit of information he'd picked up. Apparently Runcorn had exposed a wizard who'd faked his family tree to escape prosecution, and he'd been placed straight in Azkaban the wizard prison.

That had immediately caused the man to step aside without protest. And yet, just as Harry, Ron and Hermione were ushering the Muggle Borns towards the grates, everything fell apart again. The real Reg Cattermole decided to show himself, crying "Mary!" at the top of his lungs.

Ron looked up at the exclamation. So did Mary. So did most everybody else in the room. Mary looked from one to the other, but Ron just swore loudly. "Couldn't he have waited another minute?" he groaned.

"What's happening?" Mary asked, but Ron grabbed her arms and physically forced her through the grate, and with a whoosh of green flame, they both disappeared. Harry silently congratulated Ron for his actions, Mary would have been too stunned to get out on her own.

At that point, the Death Eater, Yaxley, appeared again. He'd recovered from being stunned and stormed in, demanding that everyone seal the exits quickly. Harry took the initiative, and, as Hermione ushered that last few Muggle-borns through the fireplace, he seized the wizard he'd shouted at before and shoved him forwards, yelling, "He's been helping Muggle-borns escape, Yaxley!"

It was a bit cruel, but sometimes you had to be.

Unfortunately, as the clammer began to break out, and Harry dashed for the fireplace, grabbing Hermione along the way, Yaxley looked up and saw what he was doing. The realisation dropped on him like a stone. But why? What would he be doing there?

As Harry emerged in the disguised toilets that were the entrance to the Ministry nowadays, dragging Hermione with him out of the cubicle, they saw Ron. He was beginning to return to his normal red-haired, freckly, taller self, and was having to physically push off Mary Cattermole, who was grabbing him and trying unsuccessfully to demand answers.

"Ron," Hermione yelled. She too, was returning to her bushy-haired normal appearance. "Harry. We need to get out of here. Everyone, Disapparate while you can."

The Muggle-borns quickly followed her advice, those without wands travelling with those who did. Ron managed to force himself away from Mary Cattermole, and Harry quickly thrust her wand, which he'd stolen from Umbridge, back to here and cried, "Go!"

Harry's vision was beginning to blur, a sure sign that he was returning to normal. He fished the glasses he needed in his normal form out of his pocket and pushed them on as he shrank to his normal size. As he did, he saw Yaxley appear out of the toilet bowl behind them.

Hermione screamed with fear and grabbed Harry and Ron by their hands. Spinning on the spot, she Disapparated, pulling them along with her. But, just as she did, Hermione felt a tug in her robes as Yaxley lunged forward and grabbed them.

The unpleasant sensation of being forced through a thin rubber tube, started, as Hermione was unable to stop them Disapparating, carrying Yaxley with them. Harry and Ron were oblivious to their passenger, but Hermione struggled and kicked violently, desperate to shake Yaxley off. But he clung on like a limpet.

They reappeared right on the doorstep of their hideout – Number Twelve Grimmauld Place in London. Ron almost fell over, and steadied himself on the doorframe in front of him. Then he turned and spotted Yaxley. He yelled.

Hermione quickly cast a Revulsion Jinx at Yaxley, which caused him to stagger backwards, his grip on her robes slackening quickly. But Yaxley's arm flailed outwards in a vain attempt to keep himself from falling and caught Harry in the chest. Harry and Yaxley both went tumbling backwards and landed in a heap by the door.

"Harry!" Hermione screamed, as Ron pulled out his wand and aimed it at the mass of limbs. Yaxley scrambled to his feet, attempting to pin Harry beneath him, but Ron, with a yell of "Impedimenta!" caught Yaxley in the side. Yaxley was bowled over and stopped moving. He wasn't dead, but he'd literally just stopped moving.

Harry staggered upright and said, "Thanks, Ron."

"S'awright, mate," Ron shrugged, keep his wand pointed at the floored Yaxley. "Blimey, that was close. Let's never do that again."

"It's not on my list," Hermione gasped, looking tear-stricken. "But, what shall we do now?"

"How d'you mean?" asked Ron.

"Well, I apparated Yaxley onto the front doorstep," whimpered Hermione. "And since we're Secret Keepers, that means that he'll be able to get into the house now. We've effectively given him the key in."

Hermione felt devastated, but Ron put an arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry about it," he said. "He got hold of you. It's not your fault."

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "And besides, all we have to do is erase his memory, right? That means he won't remember that he can get in."

"Yeah," said Ron. "We'll do that and drop him off somewhere and come straight back."

Hermione looked slightly reassured.

"Let's get this over with," Harry sighed. "Before Voldemort or any more Death Eaters show up and find us."

Immediately as he said it, six men in black robes appeared on the street behind him.

(A.N: The Taboo is in place at this point in the book, remember. Harry just said Voldemort's name)

"What... Harry, look out!" Hermione shrieked and aimed a spell at the closest Death Eater. She shot a Stunner forwards, which managed to hit the man before he really knew what was happening and caused him to crumple to the ground. Harry ducked and whipped around to stare at them in disbelief.

"How...?" he asked.

"It's Potter," one of them cried excitedly. "It's Potter. Get him."

Harry quickly threw up a shield which blocked the three Stunners that came soaring at him. Ron ducked to avoid being hit with a bright blue curse and Hermione dodged to one side, narrowly escaping being hit by a green Killing Curse sent her way.

Harry dropped his shield and quickly sent a Stunner at one of the nearest Death Eaters, but he dodged the spell. Harry ran to one side, letting off a swift barrage of two more Stunners and a Petrification charm. Some of the Death Eaters quickly raised shields to block the strikes, and one of them quickly retaliated by slashing his wand, sending a streak of purple fire at Harry. Harry had seen this devastating spell used on Hermione last year and he quickly lurched to one side to avoid it. As he dived he sent off another Stunner in mid-air. The Death Eater was unprepared for this, but managed to dodge. The spell hit the one behind him and he crumpled to the ground.

Ron swung aside as a jet of green struck the wall where he shoulder had been, and he swiftly sent a retaliatory Stunner at the Death Eater responsible. The man quickly raised a shield to stop the blow, which took it and the Impediment Jinx that Ron had sent off after it. Another Death Eater stepped up and shot a Slashing Hex at Ron, who dropped almost to his belly to avoid behind carved in half. The Death Eater sent another at him, but Ron rolled to one side and scrambled to his feet, raising a shield to take the third. Thinking quickly, run flicked his wand up and thought _Levicorpus_. The Death Eater, not suspecting this was jerked into the air by his ankle, causing him to drop his wand, so he was unable to block the Stunner Ron hit him in the face with.

Hermione reinforced her shield as the Death Eater attacking her, glancing about as the attempted to find a way of countering. Putting her brains to use, Hermione dropped the shield and span to the left as a yellow hex zipped past her. Quickly, she shot a Petrification Charm at the man, and, as he raised a Shield to block it, pointed her wand at the nearest bench and cried "Gulo!" The bench turned into a livid-looking wolverine, which barrelled forwards and attacked the man with a savage ferocity of all wolverines. The man cried out as he was assaulted from behind by the vicious animal, huge claws and gnashing teeth tearing at the back of his legs. Hermione swiftly Stunned him, then turned the wolverine back into a bench.

Harry was fiercely trading spells with his second attacker. The mask had fallen off and Harry recognized him as Antonin Dolohov, one of Voldemort's senior lieutenants. Harry dodged a purple curse that he didn't recognise and ducked behind a dustbin. Then he Banished the dustbin right at Dolohov, who dived out of the way to avoid it. Harry's follow-up Stunner missed and Dolohov sprang to his feet. A Stunner from Hermione caused him to raise a Shield Charm. Harry and Hermione sent spell after spell at Dolohov, but the Death Eater's shield held firm.

Suddenly, Hermione yelped as a Cutting hex nicked her leg, drawing blood. She lost her balance and fell to the floor grabbing her wand and quickly attempting to heal the wound. The spell had come from Ron's opponent. Ron bellowed in rage and sent three Stunners at the opposing Death Eater, who hurriedly tried to block them. Ron dived aside as the Cutting Curse sent his way grazed past, then he noticed the Death Eater was between him and the dustbin. Quickly, he cast a Summoning Charm, and the dustbin shot forwards and nailed the Death Eater in the back. He fell to the ground and Hermione finished him with a Petrificus Totalus. Ron had to jump aside to avoid his own projectile.

Meanwhile, Harry and Dolohov were still duelling. It was rather one-sided. Dolohov wasn't doing anything but holding up a shield, which Harry was relentlessly trying to break down. But Dolohov wasn't backing down. He sneered at Harry from behind his shield, and then spoke:-

"You may be a good duellist, Potter," he called. "But you should know that I'm holding back. The Dark Lord wants to kill you personally."

"Yeah?" Harry glared at Dolohov. "Well, he's not here. Do your worst."

"Not here, you say?" Dolohov taunted mockingly and something in his tone made Harry's throat tighten with fear. He watched as Dolohov pulled back the sleeve of his wand-arm while maintaining the shield, revealing the Dark Mark tattooed on the skin. "Well, he is now."

Dolohov pushed a finger to the Mark. Immediately, Harry's scar burned with pain and he suddenly found himself drawn into Voldemort's mind through their connection, which had formed on the day that Voldemort had given him the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

_The boy,_ he heard. _Dolohov has the boy._

And suddenly, he was Harry again, screaming and on the ground.

"Harry!" shouted Hermione, as she and Ron ran over to him, Hermione having healed her leg. "We've got to get out of here."

"Too late," taunted Dolohov.

And then, he was there. So were many others. Voldemort, white-faced, bald-headed, red eyes that were like a snake's, slitted nostrils, black robes, stood beside Dolohov. Many other Death Eaters also appeared around them. Amongst them, Harry recognized a few without their masks on; MacNair, Greyback, and the woman who'd killed his Godfather. Bellatrix Lestrange. There was no sign of Snape, as he was at Hogwarts, or the Malfoys either, for reasons unknown.

"The Potter boy activated the Taboo, my lord," Dolohov declared. "We immediately followed the signal and found him and his associates here. They are skilled duellists – as you can see, they took out the others, but I held strong and held them back. As you can see, he is mostly unharmed."

"Weak fools," Voldemort looked scornfully at the Stunned Death Eaters. "They shall be punished. But well done, Dolohov, you shall be rewarded."

"Many thanks, my lord."

"Harry, let's go!" Ron cried, trembling with terror. It was the first time he or Hermione had even seen Voldemort face-to-face, and the sheer inhumanness of his appearance would be enough to terrify them, even if they didn't know who it was.

"You cannot leave," Voldemort strode forwards as Ron and Hermione pulled Harry to his feet, smirking triumphantly. "The anti-apparition wards have already gone up. You cannot escape. And may I say, Harry, while you've done a wonderful job of evading me so far, it is about time that we met once again. Are you ready to duel?"

Harry shook off Ron and Hermione's support and squared off against his nemesis. He said nothing. He just glared angrily. Fury pounded through him, as it did whenever he came before the man who had killed his parents as a child, the man who'd tried to kill him, the man who'd murdered Cedric Diggory, and had Dumbledore killed on his orders.

"Nothing to say?" Voldemort smiled maliciously. "No last-stand hero speech? A pity. I was looking forward to that."

"You leave him alone," Ron cried bravely, despite the trembling.

Voldemort turned to look at the boy. Ron cringed under his scrutiny, but he refused to back down, standing loyally by Harry's shoulder. Voldemort then turned to look at Hermione, who also had to fight the urge to physically wilt under his gaze.

"At last," Voldemort smiled. "The Golden Trio, all together in one place. I must admit, I've been looking forward to meeting your faithful friends, Harry. You, Weasley," Ron flinched at the use of his surname. "I was under the impression that you were at home, ill with spattergroit. It appears your family lied to me. When I'm finished here, and have killed all three of you, I'll have to rectify the fact that I let them live."

Bellatrix laughed maniacally, just because she could.

"Leave them alone!" Harry shouted furiously. "This is between you and me, Voldemort. They have no part in it."

"Ah, there it is. The clichéd hero speech," Voldemort sneered. "I'm afraid, Harry, that by helping you, they have effectively signed their death warrants. So, do I kill you first, or do I make you watch as I kill them, and then kill you? You pick."

"Why don't you go jump off a cliff?" Ron shouted. Voldemort looked amused, but Bellatrix looked furious.

"You dare speak to the Dark Lord?" she screamed at Ron. "You, with your filthy Blood Traitor's tongue. CRUCIO!"

The spell struck Ron squarely in the chest and he howled in agony as pain ripped through him. It felt like every single neurone in his body had decided to catch fire. "Ron!" Hermione screamed, as she and Harry bent to pick him up from where he'd fallen in horrific pain.

"Now, now, Bellatrix," said Voldemort. "Reign in your temper. I want the pleasure of killing these three myself."

"Yes, my lord," Bellatrix fawned submissively stepping back.

"Let us go!" demanded Hermione.

"Let them go!" Harry shouted as Ron managed to stand unaided again.

"I think," Voldemort smiled, "That Miss Granger should be the first to die."

"No!" shouted Ron and Harry together. They attempted to move in front of Hermione, but Voldemort flicked his wand and they both fell backwards, leaving Hermione standing alone, rooted to the spot with fear.

"Goodbye," Voldemort pointed his wand at Hermione. "AVADA-"

He stopped. He looked up. A strange, musical note had filled the air. A very familiar note to just about everybody there. Everyone followed Voldemort's example and looked upwards as Fawkes the phoenix swooped overhead, coming to land on top of Number 11, Grimmauld Place, next to the hidden house.

"Dumbledore's pet," Voldemort sneered at it, as Harry and Ron got to their feet. "Still loyally aiding Dumbledore's favourite student."

"What shall we do, my lord?" Bellatrix asked.

"Oh, come now," Voldemort smirked. "What harm could he possibly do?"

"He could bring a mean, green ass-whupping machine with him," cried Rapidmon as he exploded into existence right above them.

The Death Eaters were, understandably, caught completely by surprise. Dolohov became the first casualty of the Digimon's attack, unable to raise a shield in time as Rapidmon surged towards him at stupendous velocity and slammed a foot into the man. Whereas a kick to Teska's chest had made him stagger in pain, a kick to Dolohov's chest sent him flying backwards to slam into a tree with a horrific crack.

Rapidmon vanished and reappeared behind two more Death Eaters, sweeping them aside with an enormous kick, blinking out of existence and back a few metres a way to swing a cannon-arm into the midriff of the tall Death Eater called Thorfinn Rowle, who also went flying backwards. Rapidmon turned and surged towards a huddle of three more, but suddenly he planted both feet in the back of the middle one just as he raised his wand to curse him, and his two arms flailed to the side to smash the other two in the face.

Voldemort finally pulled himself together and screamed "GET IT!"

Rapidmon vanished again reappearing at the other side of the group to sent a man spinning with a kick to the side of the head, vanished and smashed his arm into another's stomach, and a split second afterwards, a man thirty metres away felt a huge booted foot planted in his chest. Rapidmon, despite being over twice the height of all the men present, was quite literally flying rings around them.

Curses began to fly, as jets of red and green light streaked across the throng to any place that Rapidmon appeared next. But Rapidmon was impossible to hit. He didn't even need to strike any blows – he'd just appear behind a man or a woman and all the others would throw wayward curses in their direction, at which point Rapidmon was vanish again and his unfortunate target would be hexed into oblivion.

Rapidmon sailed straight for Voldemort next. The Dark Lord quickly raised a shield, but Rapidmon vanished well before he struck it and ploughed into MacNair fifteen metres away in almost the same instant, before vanishing again.

"Aw, come on," Rapidmon taunted, reappearing briefly above the trees. "Give me a challenge. Anyone?"

Curses jetted towards him but he was gone again. The Death Eaters were struggling to figure out how the Anti-apparition were having no effect on the strange creature. Harry, Ron and Hermione just stared as the creature wrought destruction and havoc on one of the most feared forces in the world with absolute ease.

Rapidmon vanished again after sending Selwyn flying a distance that would make an Olympic hammer-thrower weep with envy. The Death Eaters whirled around, looking for any sign of their attacker. There was no sign of him, but suddenly dustbins, benches, and even large boulders and small trees began to sail, seemingly of their own accord, at the whole mob. Voldemort screamed with fury as he hurriedly redirected a stray bench. Bellatrix was forced to duck into an undignified heap to avoid having her head smashed off by a tree.

Rapidmon whooped as he delivered a vicious uppercut to another bench so fast he was invisible and sent it flipping over to trap two Death Eaters beneath it. Picking another target, he zoomed forward and reappeared beside him, ramming him with his shoulder and sending him skidding along the ground to collide with a lamppost.

Rapidmon turned to see something come flying at him. Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf, who was presently in human form, had spotted him and was attempting to bring him down tooth and nail. Rapidmon didn't even feel concerned as he vanished in a blur, leaving Greyback to land, growling and on all fours in the space where he been, before Rapidmon dropped heavily onto his back so hard Greyback became Brokenback.

"That the best you can do?" he asked. "Because this is certainly not the best I can do."

Voldemort spotted him and with a wave of his wand, a nearby tree exploded into splinters which lanced forwards towards him. Rapidmon calmly vanished and the shards of wood stuck in the ground and Greyback's body.

"Nice try," Rapidmon said from twenty metres up. "Let's introduce wizards to some technology, shall we?" he suggested, aiming his cannons. **"RAPID FIRE!"**

The rockets zoomed downwards. One slammed into a huddle of Death Eaters that were still standing, and the terrific explosion sent all five flying in different directions, landing battered, bruised and dead on the ground many metres away. The second blurred towards Voldemort, but the Dark Lord jumped aside and took to the air, like a giant bat as the ground exploded behind him, taking out Travers and Rookwood.

"Going somewhere?" Rapidmon asked. Voldemort gasped as the Digimon appeared right in his face and kicked him earthwards again.

"Master!" screamed Bellatrix. Furiously, she sent a jet fire streaming from her wand at Rapidmon, but the Ultimate dodged to one side.

"So, you're pulling out the big guns, now, huh?" he laughed scornfully. "Then so will I. Load the torpedoes."

Rapidmon fell upon the remaining Death Eaters with unassailable ferocity. His arm-cannons and the launcher on his back rained death onto the remaining forces, who were being impeded from escaping by their own anti-Apparition wards. Rapidmon alternated between **"RAPID FIRE!"** and **"MIRACLE MISSILE!"** in a random order. It was Armageddon, London-style. The road and the ground was torn apart, bodies were thrown aside like rag-dolls, missiles ripped holes in the fences and the earth.

Rapidmon was never in the same place for more than two seconds. With a **"MIRACLE MISSILE!"** he sent a swarm of whistling missiles down, decimating Nott and Rabastan. Rodolphus Lestrange ran to escape, but a well placed **"RAPID FIRE!" **sent him flipping forwards to smash into the nearest house. Avery became the victim of the other missile from the same attack, which smashed the Earth before him, sending a shower of earth up and knocking him onto his back. **"MIRACLE MISSILE!"** projectiles rained all around him and one struck him dead-on. Jugson was struck by three of them at once and sent flying clear over the rooftops to land on the street behind.

Rapidmon then felt something curl around his foot. "Whoa!" he cried, and looking down he saw that he'd been struck for the first time. A fiery whip had snatched his ankle and the other end was attached to Voldemort's wand. The Dark Lord snarled furiously at the creature that had obliterated his forces.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you," he hissed.

"No, you won't," Rapidmon shot upwards so fast that Voldemort was dragged off his feet. The Dark Lord cancelled the whip spell and fell, sprawled to the ground. He looked up to see Rapidmon spiralling downwards towards him.

"**RAPID FIRE!" **cried the bunny, sending two missiles streaking down. Swiftly, Voldemort levitated a bunch of debris in front of him, which took the shots, but exploded into grit and showered him with dirt and bits of wood. Voldemort whipped around in time to see Rapidmon appear to kick him, but the Dark Lord was prepared and threw a jet of acid at the rabbit-Digimon.

Rapidmon vanished the acid splashed, sizzling, on the tarmac. "Had enough of that on Behpour," Voldemort heard Rapidmon say from several metres away. The Dark Lord whipped around and sent a furious, hurricane-force wind swirling in Rapidmon's direction. Rapidmon sailed backwards under the onslaught, flipping over a few times, but he landed smoothly on the side of a building, before leaping off it to send a **"MIRACLE MISSILE!" **at the Dark Lord. The missiles shot forwards and peppered the area around the man, but he managed to turn two of them into ping-pong balls.

"Tough nut to crack, eh," Rapidmon observed. "Good. Gives me a challenge."

Rapidmon saw a jet of green come shooting towards him from the side, so he blipped forwards a few metres and watched it sail harmlessly passed. A livid Bellatrix Lestrange snarled at him. "Hold still so I can blast you!" she screamed.

"Tut, tut, anger management badly needed here," said Rapidmon. "Two on one. Think you can take me?"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Bellatrix shrieked, sending two more Killing curses at Rapidmon. The Ultimate didn't bother going at super-speed as he dived forwards, ducking under the first and dodging the second, heading straight for Bellatrix. Her eyes widened as she sent of another, but Rapidmon just dodged it again. Bellatrix raised a shield, but Rapidmon turned on a penny, shot of to the side and went right around.

As he shot straight past Bellatrix he cried, **"RAPID FIRE!"** and sent two missiles flying point-blank into her stomach. She never stood a chance.

"Oh, he's good," said Ron, as Voldemort screamed.

The Dark Lord was now the only Dark Wizard left on the battlefield. The rest were either dead or unconscious, but mostly dead. Rapidmon landed on the ground a few metres away from him and said, "One on one. You know it's funny, but I never figured I'd be fighting against humans. Guess you should consider yourself lucky that you get to be the first targets. Then again, you might not count as a human being."

Voldemort hissed. "I don't know what you are, but you cannot defeat me. I have mastered death. I am immortal."

"Really?" Rapidmon mused. "You know, I once met someone else of the same opinion. His name was Ogudomon, and he bragged about his immortality, right before I tore him into atoms."

Voldemort gritted his teeth and sent of a volley of hexes that zipped forwards like a swarm of bees. They included Killers, Stunners, small lightning bolts, an Impediment Jinx, three Transfiguration spells and something that would turn Rapidmon to stone. But Rapidmon dodged them all with unerring ease. He was like a pond skater, zipping about on the surface of the water.

Rapidmon zoomed forward, but Voldemort transfigured a bin into an enormous snake, which he sent hurtling towards Rapidmon. Instead, the Digimon swatted it aside with his metal arm, then sent a **"MIRACLE MISSILE!"** forwards. Voldemort flicked his wand and the missiles turned around and went flying back at Rapidmon. The bunny tucked his arms in and shot straight through the middle of the swarm, levelling off and letting loose a **"RAPID FIRE!"**

Voldemort was definitely on the defensive now, as Rapidmon zoomed in a wide circle around him, letting off two missiles in quick succession before disappearing and appearing somewhere else to send off two more. Voldemort desperately conjured shields, like a wall of earth or a wall of bricks, both of which shattered, parried the shots, or narrowly dodged. He also threw back Killing Curses, bolts of electricity, or streams of fire.

This trading of blows took place for a good two minutes, before Rapidmon growled, "Why won't you just die?" Then, he vanished.

Voldemort whipped around, searching the skies for him, but he didn't reappear. No more missiles streaked towards him. No green Digimon appeared to try and kick him. He was gone.

Voldemort stood for roughly twenty seconds while nothing attacked him. Then, he turned back to look at Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were still standing, uninjured, surrounded by carnage and rubble from the attack and staring, flabbergasted around them.

"Well," he said. "I must admit this has set me back, but you're still here. You should have run away when you had the chance, Harry." He began to stride down the centre of the street towards the trio, who raised their wands. "The creature has gone. You against me, Harry. Don't you want to end all this. I'll make it quick."

"You don't stand a chance now," Harry grimaced. "Most of your followers are gone. You're one man against the whole wizarding world."

"I will rebuild. I still have some followers, and there is the Imperius Curse," Voldermort sneered. "I will never be defeated. You cannot stop. Dumbledore couldn't stop me. That creature couldn't stop me."

"Can't I?"

Rapidmon bulled into the one lamppost that was still standing. It tipped forwards, the light heading straight for Voldemort's head. Voldemort looked up and saw it coming, and he attempted to dive aside, but the lamppost slammed down on his leg, causing a yelp of pain. Rapidmon hung in the air above him.

"Momentai, Voldie," Rapidmon smirked under the mask. "I'll make it quick."

"You won't beat me!" Voldemort screamed. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Rapidmon calmly leaned to one side as the spell streaked past. "Cute trick," he said, raising his arms and bringing his legs together. "You want to see my jet of green light? It trumps yours."

The golden lines appeared. The triangle formed. The triangle filled with green light.

"I've been saving this one just for you," Rapidmon related. Then;

"**TRI BEAM!"**

The enormous, green beam erupted forwards and washed over Voldemort. The Dark Lord screamed in agony as the pain ripped through him, agony beyond which he'd never felt before, even more painful than when he'd been ripped out of his body the first time. This was because he was being ripped out of his body a second time.

Voldemort's body disintegrated, and the ghostly version of his soul that Harry had seen rise from the body of Professor Quirrell in their first year, rose out of where it had been and shot off towards the distant skyline.

Rapidmon ceased the flow and stared at the dust that had been Voldemort. "Er, was he supposed to do that? Never used that attack on a human before."

"Whoa," said Ron. "You just, completely wiped the floor with You-Know-Who."

"I don't believe it," Hermione was muttering. "I don't believe what I just saw. This is a very, very strange dream."

Harry just stared at the ex-body of Voldemort, then looked up at Rapidmon.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"The name's Rapidmon," said Rapidmon. "For now anyway. And you're Harry Potter. No need to thanks me for killing Voldie. It was his idea." Rapidmon pointed up at Fawkes the phoenix, who trilled.

"He's not dead," said Harry.

"Say wha-?"

"He's not dead," grimaced Harry. "Not yet. He won't be dead until we destroy all his Horcruxes."

"All his what? You've lost me."

"We've got to destroy all the objects where he hid parts of his soul."

"Parts of his - ? Ew. I'd rather keep all of my soul in the same body," Rapidmon shuddered. "Well, I reckon you should get started, because my work here is done." He turned to Fawkes. "Can I go back now? I've got a whole system to save."

_Wait here,_ trilled Fawkes. _I will get Teska._

He vanished in a flare of fire. He was gone for a few moments before there was a bigger flare of fire and Fawkes reappeared with his talons clutching Teska's shoulder. The Skakoan looked around, then spotted Rapidmon.

"You!"

"Me."

"I shall destroy you."

"Somehow I knew that you were going to say that." Rapidmon turned to look at the wizards and witch while Teska readied his rockets. "See ya, guys. My pleasure helping you. I wish you luck with your quest, and now I sound like I'm in a fairy tale. **RAPID FIRE!"**

The last bit was directed towards Teska. Just as before, the two sets of missiles collided and the blue vortex appeared. Rapidmon wasn't sure, but he was pretty sure that Fawkes had something to do with that. As he felt the tug, he waved to the humans and before he vanished into the portal, he yelled one word at them.

Then he and Teska was gone.

Ron looked questioningly at Harry and Hermione and said, "What's Momentai?"

* * *

As Rapidmon and Teska re-emerged in the room in Behpour, Rapidmon had already got his attack ready, preparing a second Tri-Beam. Behind him, he heard Kyubimon say, "He's doomed." And he couldn't agree more.

"**TRI BEAM!"**

The green light shot forward in a continuous stream and hit Teska like a sledgehammer to a safety pin. Teska's armour, what was left of it, buckled and tore as he was forced backwards, the flames dying as the machinery suit. He fell to the platform, defeated. He was alive, but only just.

He heard something land next to him. Teska looked up and found himself staring down the barrel of a cannon. "Checkmate," said Rapidmon. **"RAPID FIRE!"**

Kul Teska died.

Rapidmon nodded with satisfaction, and turned around to face the others. No time had passed whatsoever in this universe. He could see the confused looks on the face of Kyubimon and Turuiemon as they received a welter of weird images from his head about what he'd done.

_Later,_ he sent them, as he flew over to join them.

"Whoa," Ahsoka's face was shining with delight as she looked the powerful Digimon up and down.

"Most impressive," said Aayla. "I don't particularly want to get on the wrong side of you."

_Voldie did,_ Rapidmon thought. _And look where that got him._

* * *

Remember, this didn't actually happen in the real Secret of the 327th. This is just a random crackfic for Zephyrclaws. The real Harry Potter crossover will come when I finish Secret of the 327th. It'll be much longer.

Hope you enjoyed Rapidmon kicking ass. Again.

Fergus Flamacron, signing off.


	4. Suzie's Stand

Alright, this oneshot here is for Movie-Brat again. I chose this one because he gave me slightly more detail than the other one he gave me, and it allowed me to use one of my favourite Clone Wars characters. It also meant I got an opportunity for Suzie to do something other than stand around and slash cards and shout for ice-cream.

**

* * *

**

Every Fifty

**Oneshot 4:- Suzie's Stand**

**Rating:- T**

**Worlds:- Digimon Tamers, Star Wars: The Clone Wars**

* * *

The asteroids spun lazily through the Rogue Antar system, just as they always did. Not many ships liked to come to this part of space, as it was practically littered with the floating rocks, and contained numerous mynock ready to feast on the power cables of most ships and space stations. The war hadn't really affected this place as a result and it was therefore neutral space.

But there was one place that the pestilent mynocks had learnt to stay away from. Floating along with the asteroids, and surrounded by powerful repellents to keep them away, was Black Stall Station. It was small, and relatively undistinguished - a miniature space station with a shape similar to a cross, with docking clamps at the tips of two of them, while the other two made up part of the large, single central room.

Presently attached to one of the docking clamps was a modified Telgorn dropship, which was about the same size as a minibus and was quite featureless, except for the huge docking clamps at the back. There were no windows other than the cockpit. It was called the _Sleight of Hand_.

Both the station and the ship would have provided a tasty morsel to any mynock, but it was the owner of both that they had learnt to avoid.

Inside the station, lounging in his chair and with his feet resting on the desk in front of him, a figure dozed. Nastha-hide tunic, durasteel boots with jetpack thrusters, wrist gauntlets imbued with several control devices, LL-30 blaster pistols holstered at the waist, cybernetic breathing tubes embedded in his cheekbones and the bizarre cowboy hat that he'd pulled over his eyes identified the figure, even though you couldn't see the blue face, blood-red eyes and fangs of the Duros Bounty Hunter underneath.

Cad Bane.

One of the many scourges of the Republic, Bane held the title of the most ruthless Bounty Hunter in the galaxy, and he was eager to defend it. He worked for the credits, and only for the person who gave him the most. He held no loyalties whatsoever, except for himself, and nobody who attempted to cheat him ever managed to survive for longer than a week.

Even Jedi didn't bother him.

Bane hadn't had any missions for a few days now, but that was about to change.

There was a beeping and a flashing as a button lit up and blipped earnestly at him. Bane raised his hat and regarded it imperiously, as if wondering whether to bother answering the call he received. But, if it was another client, then that meant he'd get paid.

Not bothering to remove his feet from the desk, he pushed the button. The holographic image of a male Nautolan appeared before him.

"Bane," he said. "It is good to see you again."

"Spare me the welcoming committee, Fong," Bane smirked. He knew this person to be Fong Do, who lived in the Coruscant Underworld and often sent out others to do his dirty work for him, not because he was inefficient at doing it himself, but because he couldn't be bothered to leave the bars where he could get a lot of drinks, and something else too. "What do you want?"

"I should think that would be obvious, Bane," Fong smirked back. "I have another target for you."

"Let me guess," said Bane, tipping his hat back down and putting his hands behind his head. "Is it someone who you attempted to make a deal with, but who scarpered before he paid you again?"

"You know me too well, Bane," the Nautolan said. "And as a result, you should know that I am a criminal of my word and will pay you handsomely if you go out and ensure that this doesn't happen again."

"There's a blaster bolt with his name on it already," Bane said. "So, whose brains do I blow out this time?"

"His name is Fnarrg Klefpor," said Fong. "He's a Rodian smuggler who thought he could get the better of me. But I know better. I did a little bit of rooting around to find him and I believe that I already know where you can find him. He has a small base of operations on the planet Makem Te. Just head there and I'm sure you'll be able to track him down."

"Has it every occurred to you to go and find him yourself if you already know where he is?" asked Bane casually.

"Why would I need to do that when I have you on my side?" asked Fong.

"Has the Twi'lek dancer at that bar you stay in accepted your invitation yet?" Bane raised his hat and leered mockingly at him.

Fong scowled. "No, but she will, let me assure you of that."

"Oh, I'm sure that she'll crumble eventually," Bane lied. Twi'lek dancers got many advances and were used to staving them off. "Now, about my pay."

Once negotiations had been settled and Bane had forced Fong to unhappily raise his amount, Bane entered the dropship. After leaving the place under the charge of his Techno-service droid, Todo 360, Bane climbed into the pilot seat and lifted off from the station. He shook his head. Fong Do was a fool and was very lazy, but at least he paid good money thanks to the numerous deals he made. And he made so many that naturally some of them weren't all that legitimate. This was the fourth time he'd called Bane to get him to chase after someone who'd refused to pay.

But Bane didn't mind. He enjoyed what he did.

Swinging the ship around and getting out of the asteroid field, Bane hit the hyperdrive and shot of towards Makem Te.

But he wasn't the only one heading there.

* * *

The _Negotiator_ jumped out of hyperspace, along with six other large _Venator_-class Republic cruisers forming a phalanx behind it. The large, triangular vessels moved slowly and majestically forwards, defying the gravity of the planet below, like giant majestic birds soaring across the sky, except that they were still up in space.

It had been a few months now since the Second Battle of Christophsis, where Jedi Knight Aayla Secura had first met the interdimensional being known as Renamon, who'd helped them to pull off a spectacular victory with almost no casualties. Since then, the combined forces of the Aayla and the 327th, Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano and the 501st, and the three Digimon, had become the main driving force of the Republic armies.

But that didn't mean that, occasionally, a Digimon and a tamer might sometimes go and perform a separate mission with another Jedi. Other than the usual A-Team, Anakin's former Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was the Jedi was the Jedi who most frequently found himself in the company of at least one child and Digital Monster.

Just like now, as the Jedi Master looked down on the planet below.

"It looks like Ryloth," said Suzie Wong, the little girl from Earth that had recently turned to the double-digit age of ten, and liked to remind everyone at every possible opportunity. "It's all dry."

Obi-Wan looked down at the little girl by his side. She was often chosen to accompany him for two reasons. Firstly, children like Suzie might irritate some people, but Obi-Wan couldn't imagine why. He had a never-ending patience, which you needed if you took on Anakin Skywalker as a Padawan. He seemed to work with small children as well. Both skills might be needed when dealing with Suzie Wong.

Suzie also insisted the Obi-Wan reminded her of her dad – who she hadn't seen since she'd arrived in this universe from her home planet of Earth.

"What's it called?" asked Suzie.

"This planet, little one," said Obi-Wan, "is called Makem Te. It's home to the Swokes swokes."

"Pardon?" asked the little bunny-like creature standing next to Suzie. She was about half Suzie's height, brown, except for her pink hands, feet and parts of her massive ears, including the three-fingered tips. She had three horns on her head, and black, friendly-looking eyes. This was Lopmon, Digimon partner to Suzie, sister to Terriermon and, if you wanted to go into human terms, sister-in-law to Renamon.

Of the three Digimon that Obi-Wan had met, Lopmon was the quietest, and also the most calm – just like himself, which was presumably why she'd been partnered with Suzie in the first place. This was a stark contrast to her brother, Terriermon, who had no manners at all, except when he wanted them. Renamon was like Lopmon in many ways, but she was more headstrong and warrior-like.

"That sounds like you tried to say something with a mouthful of bubble-wrap," she said, glancing up at him.

"Yay! Bubble-wrap. Have you seen any around?" Suzie asked.

"If I do, I'll let you know straight away," chuckled Obi-Wan, sending himself a mental note to ask Lopmon what bubble-wrap was later on.

"Sorry to say this, Suzie," Lopmon looked to her partner, "But I don't think we'll really have time for popping bubble-wrap. We've got a mission to take care of... again. But afterwards, how about we go find some cake?"

Suzie cheered.

"I apologise for the repeated missions that you get sent on, Lopmon," Obi-Wan said sincerely. "But you are providing a wonderful addition to the war effort."

"It's not a problem," said Lopmon. "It's actually good to get away from the _Resolute_ and the _Intrepid_ for a bit. It's become a madhouse recently."

"Oh?" Obi-Wan cocked an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well, let's give you an example," Lopmon chuckled. "When I left, Captain Rex and Commander Bly were trying to figure out how to unstick Ahsoka's feet from the floor where Anakin and Terriermon had pasted it."

"The prank war is still going then?" Obi-Wan shook his head. "Who's winning?"

"It's pretty much even-stevens," piped up Suzie, "but Ahsoka does a bit more than Anakin. So, what's the mission this time?"

Blinking at the sudden change in topic, Obi-Wan took a few seconds before he answered. "You were right when you said this planet was like Ryloth. It's a slightly similar scenario. Do you remember the Skakoan leader we captured on Ryloth, Wat Tambor?"

"Yeah," nodded Suzie, eager to show her willingness.

"Well, he was the leader of the Techno Union before capture," Obi-Wan continued. "And the Techno Union is huge, so his capture didn't end it. Right now, another Skakoan known as Domb Treetor is taking charge after the capture of the previous leader."

"Right," said Suzie, determined not to get lost.

"Domb Treetor is setting up a base on the planet below. Makem Te is a Separatist-aligned planet, but the native Swokes swokes aren't too pleased with this move and asked for our assistance. If they're ready to swap sides, then we should by all means help them. We need to destroy that base."

"So, how are we going to do that?" asked Lopmon.

"The hard way, I'm afraid," Obi-Wan shook his head. "We're going to have to go in on foot and take it out from the ground level. No bombing from above."

"Why can't we just make it go boom?" asked Suzie, confused.

"Because we want the Swokes swokes on our side, and if we did that then they wouldn't help us."

"Sorry, you've lost me," said Lopmon.

"Maybe this'll help. Every single Swokes swokes who dies is afforded a place in a giant graveyard known as the Tract of Makem Te, which covers a tenth of the entire planet."

"A tenth?" whistled Lopmon. "That's one big graveyard."

Suzie shuddered. "Graveyards scare me," she said. "I'm sure I saw a ghost in the last one we went to."

"Yes, Suzie," said Lopmon patiently. "That was a Soulmon, remember. I blasted him into data for you."

"Oh, yeah," Suzie grinned. "I remember that. He had a weird hat."

"Yes, he did," said Lopmon. "Now, Obi-Wan, you were saying?"

"Yes," said Obi-Wan. "As I was saying, they take this graveyard very seriously, and Domb Treetor had built his fortification right in the centre of that graveyard. They are not happy at all with this, which is why they asked for our help. If we simply sent in the bombers and destroyed hundreds of Swokes swokes graves then we wouldn't be getting any favour from them."

"A clever strategy," mumbled Lopmon. "It means that taking the base will be that much harder."

"Indeed," Obi-Wan smiled wryly. "Which is where you two come in. Thanks to the impressive amount of secrets we've been keeping, the only Separatists who know about you are in prison. Wat Tambor never got the chance to tell his associates _how_ he'd been defeated."

"Alright then," Lopmon nodded. "When do we start?"

"Right away," said Obi-Wan. "Commander Cody," he turned around to address one of the clones, yellow paint on large parts of his armour and a visor on his helmet. "Are the gunships ready to take us down to the surface?"

"Ready to leave at a moment's notice, sir," Cody nodded dutifully. "We gonna go scrap some clankers now?"

"Indeed we are, Commander. Once again. Hopefully we'll be able to thin their ranks a little with this assault, but I can't help but wish battle droids weren't so easy to make. The number of times we come up against overwhelming odds..." he sighed.

"But, sir," said another nearby clone, Boil. "It's no fun unless the odds are overwhelming."

"He's got a point," added Waxer.

"And it's even more fun when you've got a few surprises up your sleeve," nodded Lopmon.

"If you've got them," added Suzie.

"Come on then," Obi-Wan nodded, offering his hand to Suzie, who took it and trotted along beside the Jedi Master as he led the way down to the hangar. Lopmon took up her usual position on top of Suzie's head as they went.

Lopmon sometimes felt uncomfortable when going on missions with other Jedi. There was a reason why only a few of them taught the numerous younglings at the Temple. Master Yoda and Master Obi-Wan were easily the best when handling Suzie, along with Aayla and Ahsoka.

Lopmon also couldn't feel the comforting presence of her brother and his mate when she got too far away from them. She knew right now that Terriermon, Henry, Renamon and Rika were helping to defend the planet Devaron from Separatist invaders, but she didn't know if they were okay. She didn't know if anybody had been killed or injured, or whether they'd already won.

She forced herself not to think about that and concentrated on what was coming ahead. They had a potentially difficult task ahead of them if they needed to destroy a whole Separatist base without doing too much damage to the area around them.

"Now, remember Suzie," she said to her Tamer. "When we get on the ground, you need to stay with the tanks and keep safe. I might not be there to protect you if you get into trouble, so try to stay away from it, alright?"

"Okiedokie," Suzie nodded. "I won't go wandering off."

* * *

They reached the hangar and stepped into the gunship along with Cody, Waxer and Boil. Dotted around all seven hangars were numerous LAAT gunships, as well as several LAAT carriers with the metallic clamps around the Stun Tanks that would be descending with them. These were smaller, hovering versions of the giant SPHA-T walkers, with enormous laser cannons on their backs that were capable of immobilizing a droid or an enemy ship in much the same way as a Droid Popper. AT-TE walkers were too destructive for this operation.

"Let's get underway then," said Obi-Wan.

"Copt that, General," said the pilot.

Suzie always enjoyed the sensation of flying in a gunship. As the blast doors shut around her, she got the feeling that you might expect if you were standing in a fast-moving lift. Because she was so small and couldn't reach the clamps attached to the ceiling which were designed to allow troops to steady themselves, she clung tightly to Obi-Wan's hand throughout the ride to keep herself steady.

The squadrons of gunships and carriers entered the atmosphere of the planet below and skimmed downwards towards the surface of the planet. Nothing was shooting at them as of yet, which was always a good sign.

"I don't want us to get too near to the facility by the air," Obi-Wan was saying. "They're bound to have some type of anti-aircraft cannons, and we aren't exactly built for speed in these things. Pilots, set the gunships down a good distance away from the facility so we can approach on foot."

"Sir, yes, sir," chorused a bunch of clone voices.

"Cody," said Obi-Wan. "Open the blast door. I want to see what we're up against."

Now that they were inside the atmosphere, Cody knew they'd be fine as he pushed a large red button and the blast door slid to the side, allowing them to peer out and look below. They were over the Tract of Makem Te, which was dotted by enormously long, precisely placed, parallel, curved lines of graves. They were very elaborate graves, nothing like the slabs back on Earth. Every one of them was like a monument, with a similar round design but different patterns and colours on each one. Some were tall, others squat, but all were huge and covered the entire grave instead of the head.

And quite a way off, an enormous building rose up from the large gravestones.

"Well, they've certainly been busy," whistled Lopmon.

"We've got to attack that?" asked Suzie.

"I'm afraid so," said Obi-Wan grimly.

The facility was a huge construction consisting of numerous spires. There was a tall central spire right in the middle, with two spires almost as tall on either side. Surrounding them were many spires that were about half-as tall, jutting upwards towards the sky, and around _those_ were even more spires, half as tall again. The facility was surrounded by a large thick wall, the only entrance to which was a thick blast door, just like the entrance to the palace of Jabba the Hutt.

The gunships came down to land amongst the graves. The spaces between the lines were just large enough to admit them and the clones poured out in their numbers. The Stun Tanks were also lowered carefully to the ground, and their carriers lifted off to head back to the cruisers.

"Alright men," shouted Obi-Wan. "Let's push for the factory. And stay alert. You can bet the Separatists won't just let us march up to their front door."

"Suzie, stay with the Stun Tanks," Lopmon reminded her charge as she leapt off her head and landed on Obi-Wan's shoulder, where she would be near the front. Suzie nodded and trotted over towards the nearest tank, so she could walk along beside it and have a plain view of everything.

"Alright, form up and let's get moving," Obi-Wan set off towards the towering structure. The fact that Lopmon was riding his shoulder did nothing to decrease his authority. Every clone there knew that the little bunny could be deadly when provoked. They'd seen it firsthand.

* * *

Domb Treetor rolled along, inspecting his new base. Construction had almost been completed and he was very pleased with the results. He'd not only got a place where he could start harvesting the treasure of the wealthy Swokes swokes, but it was also a small droid factory, a fortified structure that could spew out droids with ease. He had yet to install a deflector shield, but the entire structure was laced with giant proton cannons other defensive structures.

Like Wat Tambor and all other Skakoans, he wore a pressure suit that they would die without, but the basic design of his had been intended to copy Wat Tambor, who most of the Techno Union still looked up to and thus make himself seem more imposing. His long, flowing robes were red instead of blue, as blue was reserved only to the Emir, a title which he was wondering if Tambor deserved.

After all, the Skakoan leader had been captured and held prisoner for some months now. No escape attempt on his part had succeeded. Treetor was a major in the army now, but if Tambor stayed where he was for much longer, he might declare himself the leader of the Techno Union and grant himself the new Emir.

As he watch the assembly line assemble many, many destroyer droids, Treetor was approached by a tactical droid – his own personal tactical droid known as TA-163. As he spoke to the droid, his voice was slightly higher pitched than Tambor's – sometimes he did have issues with being taken seriously be his forces.

"Sir," said TA-163. "We may have a problem."

"What is it?" Treetor rolled his eyes.

"As I calculated, we have some company," the tactical droid droned. "There appears to be a legion of Republic troopers heading this way."

"This is quite soon," murmured Treetor. "Sooner than I anticipated."

"I calculate that the native Swokes swokes are unhappy with you decision to build this facility on their burial ground," suggested the droid. "They must have made a plea to the Republic for assistance in your removal."

"Then they are traitors," Treetor said hypocritically. The Techno Union had once been part of the Republic after all, and he was planning to supplant Wat Tambor. "And traitors must be dealt with swiftly. Are the Republic forces coming by ground or by air?"

"By ground, sir. I estimate that they do not wish to do too much damage to the surroundings for fear of upsetting the natives. They have no AT-TE walker with them – only Stun Tanks."

"Ha!" Treetor crowed, overconfidence spilling from him already. "Their need to maintain good relationships with everyone will be their undoing. They don't stand a chance against this heavily-fortified installation. Still, I suppose it wouldn't be that great of an idea to let them get too close with such numbers. The less damage they do, the better."

"We have twelve regiments of droids ready to march into battle," stated TA-163 helpfully. "And seven more are well on the way. What are your orders, sir?"

"We need to send out something to thin their ranks. Deploy all the forces we have and get them to kill every clone they can find. We outnumber them at around three-to-one. They will probably come out on top, but we will easily be able to defeat what remains with our proton cannons."

"Of course, sir," said the tactical droid. "But I estimate that a large portion of our forces will be lost to the Stun Tanks. They will be able to perform sweeping movements to deactivate large proportions of our forces."

"We will lose roughly the same amount of droids as we would if they brought walkers with them. We don't need to worry. Not unless they have some secret weapon that our weapons are no match for, and I highly doubt that."

"I shall set the production of droids to maximum capacity," said TA-163. "We will be able to regenerate some of our losses by the time they reach us."

"Do it," nodded Treetor. "They will come to fear the Techno Union.

* * *

A few minutes later, and the huge blast door slid upwards. Behind it, the entrance was literally packed with droid lines, which marched out in perfect synchrony, blasters ready to fire and feet slamming the ground. They huge, unbroken lines separated into several separate columns and moved down the rows of gravestones like many, giant, winding worms.

Lines of B1 battle droids were followed by lines of Super Battle Droids. Along with them marched lines of Dwarf Spider Droids, and dotted amongst the lines were numerous Crab Droids. There was no sign of any Droidekas, but that was only because they were so much faster that they were remaining behind until they could roll into battle and be there at the correct time.

* * *

Cody, from his position riding on one of the Stun Tanks, peered through his macrobinoculars at the giant Separatist base up ahead. The loyal clone commander was quite tense, knowing that they'd certainly have a job on their hands trying to get inside a place like this. He pushed a little wheel on the macrobinoculars that caused them to zoom in. He took in the giant spires, unforgiving and imposing as they lanced into the sky.

He could see several ledges along each one, lined with proton cannons ready to fire down and cause devastation. Such cannons had stupendous range, and it wouldn't be very long before they found themselves near enough to be blasted at.

Then, Cody lowered the macrobinoculars towards ground level. The enormous lines of battle droids approaching was quite obvious for him to see. There were no tanks, but there were an enormous number of droids.

"Sir," he called down. "Droids inbound. And there are a lot of them."

"Well, I expected something like this," mused Obi-Wan, bringing the advancing clones to a halt and rubbing his beard thoughtfully. Unfortunately if we keep advancing much further we'll end up being assaulted by their cannons too."

"What are your orders, sir?"

"Well, this may be a little unconventional, but," Obi-Wan turned to look at his passenger. "Lopmon, are you up for a challenge?"

Lopmon blinked. "A challenge?"

"Yes. I believe that it would prove most beneficial. We must ensure we take out the factory, and I have a plan for doing so, but it relies heavily on you."

Lopmon nodded. Determination broke out across her face and she said, "Point me in the right direction and I'll do what I have to do?"

"Glad to hear it," said Obi-Wan. He turned around and addressed everybody. "Alright everyone. We'll stop here and wait for the droids to come for us. That way, we won't have to deal with them and the proton cannons. While we take on the droid forces here, Lopmon will sneak around the enemy lines. Her small size we'll mean that she'll probably go unnoticed.

"Lopmon, I want you to sneak up to the main facility. Once there, I want you to digivolve and take out the cannons. After the clones and I have dealt with the droid army, I shall lead the charge forward and we'll take the base."

"Consider it done," nodded Lopmon. "Suzie," she called. "Stay at the back and be ready. I'll need your help to digivolve. Just make sure you stay away from the droids."

"Okay," Suzie nodded.

"Waxer!" Cody called. "Boil! You two guard Suzie. Protect her with your lives. Any clankers who get too near to you, shoot 'em up."

"Sir, yes sir!" called the two.

"Alright then," Lopmon jumped down and landed on the ground. "I'll catch you guys later." With that, she took to the air and, staying low to the ground as she could without crashing into it, she soared off to the side, through the many giant graves, until she was some distance off and past the clone and droid lines, before veering off and turning towards the facility. She landed on the ground and began to run. It would be easier to escape notice on the ground.

"Alright men," Obi-Wan called. "Battle positions."

* * *

When the droids came forwards, they were met with a hailstorm. The brave clone troopers opened fire on their ranks, dropping them to the floor like pieces of scrap. A bird couldn't have flown through the storm of bolts without getting hit. The droids were bombarded and holed, dropping to the ground in heaps.

As a result, they began to return fire, though their aim was slightly less accurate. Many of them managed to strike graves rather than clones. Nevertheless, there were so many of them that many dozens of clones were also being felled across the lines.

Cody wheeled around from behind a grave and dropped four droids in rapid succession before moving back again. "Check you fire!" he yelled. "Try not to hit the graves if possible!"

The clones moved forwards, taking it in turns to duck behind the giant ornamental stones while others took turns to launch a barrage upon the droids. Several clones sporting Z-6 Rotatory Blaster Cannons moved up to the front of the line and each weapon became a maelstrom of blue flashes, pouring bolts into the droid forces, who weren't bothering to take cover and just kept marching forwards in a relentless tide.

The Spider and Crab Droids began to close the distance between the two lines, but Obi-Wan Kenobi made his move then. The Crabs had to go, they could too much damage on the graves with their giant limbs. From his position atop one of the Stun Tanks, he directed them to shoot at the giant, orange droids. The heavy lasers on the back of each tank lowered and sent concentrated electromagnetic pulse beams into the droids, sizzling them to the spot where they stood.

Then the Jedi charged forward, leaping on top of a giant grave. Giving a mental apology to the Swokes swokes it belonged to; he dived into the mass of droids, his blue lightsaber flashing into life. One of the Crab Droids reared up, determined to smash him under its feet, but Obi-Wan swung upwards, slicing off both feet and then plunging the blade deep into its belly. As it collapsed, he leapt forwards, deflecting several bolts before carving through a droid, sweeping through another, spinning to one side to take out three at once and then neatly cutting two more in half.

Ob-Wan moved with grace as he sent two bolts whizzing back into their castors, picked up two droids with the Force and sent them shooting back through their lines. Stun Tanks beams whizzed over his head and the shots of the clones flurried all around him, taking out the myriads of opponents. Obi-Wan picked up another droid with the Force, using it as a shield as he carved through two more, then dropped the droid and sliced through yet more – left, right, left. His blade was like a living being in his palm, or an extension of his arm, which he used to stab between the nearest Spider Droid's photoreceptors.

Waxer and Boil stood back as the carnage unfolded before them. They stood on either side of Suzie; blasters raised and ready to ward off any potential threats. A stray shot from a Spider caused Waxer to duck, and he and Boil opened fire on it.

Suddenly, a whirring noise, made them turn around. Three droidekas had just rolled in from the side, going around the main clone force to strike at them from behind. Immediately, the clones got before Suzie and opened fire. They managed to take out one as it was uncurling, but the remaining two got up and expanded their shields, opening fire.

Boil pushed Suzie firmly behind the nearest Stun Tank as Waxer ducked behind a grave. The droidekas kept up their renowned, relentless firepower, determined to give the clones more holes than Swiss cheese.

"I really don't like that kind," Suzie moaned.

"Waxer!" Boil cried. "We have to protect Suzie! I'll hold their attention here. You circle around!"

"Right!"

Waxer nodded and dashed off to the side amongst the graves. Boil stepped out momentarily from behind the tanks and fired several shots. The droidekas turned their attention to him and he quickly stepped back.

As he did, Waxer dashed past the droidekas several metres to their left, until he was behind them. Then he turned around and inched forward, quietly so as not to gain their attention. He inched through their deflector shields and raised his blaster. With a quick movement, he shot the first in the back of the curved face, and then the second.

Boil sighed in relief, thankful that they'd succeeded. "How's Lopmon getting on?" he asked Suzie.

* * *

Lopmon had found it no trouble at all to sneak past the droid lines, though she's had to dodge to one side to avoid being run over by a droideka which hadn't noticed her. But she'd reached the walls of the facility undetected. Looking up, she could see the giant cannons facing the fire fight going on in the distance.

"Okay, Suzie," she said. "I'm in position. I'm ready when you are."

"Okay then," Suzie replied, pulling out a card. She paused and asked, "Normal or blue?"

"Considering the size of this place," said Lopmon. "I'd go with blue."

"Okay," Suzie nodded. A brief moment later, the card in her hand flashed, turning deepest blue. Grinning with satisfaction, she swiped it through the D-Arc.

"Digi-modify! Matrix-Digivolution Activate!"

Lopmon burst into light and felt a surge of strength as she promptly began to get much, much bigger.

"**LOPMON MATRIX-DIGIVOLVE TO... ANTYLAMON!"**

Antylamon flexed her long arms, her eyes narrowed. Compared to the facility, she was still small, but the raw power of her Ultimate Form coursed within her now. "Time to bring home the bacon!" she cried, as he hands morphed into double-bladed axes. Very large ones.

She jumped straight upwards, shouting **"BUNNY BLADES!" **She slammed them into the nearest wall, right next to an opening with the proton cannons stood and it promptly collapsed under the tremendous impact.

* * *

Domb Treetor shuddered at the colossal impact outside, and almost lost his footing. TA-163 had to grab the wall for support.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I cannot calculate any possibility, my lord," the droid hummed. "It does not compute."

Treetor hurriedly rushed to the nearest balcony as quickly as he could and looked outside. The battle between the clones and the droids was still a very long way off, but right beside the Temple was something that couldn't possibly be there, an enormous rabbit-creature, with a white face, a red tunic and axes for arms, and it was wreaking havoc on his facility.

* * *

Antylamon dashed across at a mind-boggling speed, walking straight over graves as if they weren't there with her long legs. She was spinning wildly as the she ran and every half-rotation was followed by another pink blade of energy streaking from her axes. She was like a maypole of destruction, and everywhere that a proton cannon jutted out of the facility was smashed by a single blade of energy, which was all it took to blow the area apart.

"I bet you weren't expecting someone like me!" she roared as she ran along, sending two more Bunny Blades slicing into the walls. The outer structure of the place was already beginning to fall apart under her brutal assault. Stones felt, metal was crushed and bits of cannon dropped to the ground.

"Shoot it!" Treetor cried. "Shoot it quickly!"

Proton cannons were slow movers and as they began to turn towards her, most of them were wiped out before they finished turning, cut up by her manic and accurate energy blades. Antylamon whirled like a tornado, striking everywhere as she ran around the facility, cutting up every single proton cannon she could find.

One of them managed to set sights on her and let loose a blast that could blow apart a gunship right at her. Antylamon spotted it coming. She could easily have dodged, but if she did that then it would take out several graves, and that couldn't be allowed. So she did the other option.

She blocked it.

Her axes came up and formed a barrier that it slammed into and bounced right off. With a spin that was almost faster than thought, she whirled about and brought one of her axes slicing through it before it could rebound anywhere and it instantly dissipated.

Treetor was dumbstruck.

Antylamon smirked.

She looked up at the horrified and, it had to be said, resigned battle droid manning the cannon that had fired at her. "Do you want to see my heavy blast?" Her axes morphed back into her hands and she brought them over her head, and then swung them down with a cry of **"ARM BOMBER!"**

As she did, two large balls of condensed shockwaves appeared out of nowhere behind her and thundered towards the cannons. It, and a good proportion of the facility around it, were instantly blown apart by the attack, scattering over a wide area as debris.

"That's not possible!" cried Treetor.

Antylamon's keen ears picked that up, and, as her hands morphed back into axes, she said, "Where my kind are concerned, anything is possible. Now, let's demolish the last of your cannons, shall we? **BUNNY BLADES!"**

* * *

Obi-Wan sliced through one of the last remaining Supers and stabbed through the chest of the nearest B1. Around him, the clones and the tanks finished off their rest with their bolts and beams, shoot them down and frying their circuits respectively.

Cody moved over to stand by Obi-Wan. "Well, that was quite a fight, General," he said.

"Indeed," nodded Obi-Wan. "How many tanks do we have left?"

"Only one of those got hit, sir," Cody replied. "We still all the rest. Of course, we still haven't time to count all of our men."

"Very well. Leave the dead here for now. We'll come and pick them up later." He fished a pair of macrobinoculars from his belt and looked through them at the facility. He could see the large bunny that he knew to be Antylamon easily demolishing the place outer walls and what remained of the proton cannons.

"Well, our Digital fried is certainly giving them a hard time," he chuckled. "What say we go over there and help her give them an even harder time?"

"I like that idea, sir!" Cody nodded. "Alright, lads. Let's go!"

The clones and the Jedi charged, and the tanks hovered forwards after them. Waxer lifted Suzie onto his shoulders and joined in the charge. Suzie whooped at the ride. Waxer laughed. Boil rolled his eyes under his helmet and had to stop himself from chuckling.

* * *

It took a few minutes for the clones to reach the facility. Antylamon had easily dealt with the proton cannons by that time, so no giant red lasers came lancing forwards to smash them to pieces. The clones drew level with the walls and Antylamon, sending a Bunny Blade at a balcony where some battle droids were trying to shoot at her, ran over to join them by the enormous blast doors.

"Glad to see you could make it," she said, towering over all of the identically high clones and Obi-Wan. None of them even came up to her knee.

"Good job, Antylamon. I don't think any of us could do it better."

"I _know_ that none of us could do it better," said Cody.

"Praise indeed," Antylamon smiled.

"Now, we just need to get inside," said Obi-Wan.

"Done," said Antylamon. **"BUNNY BLADES!" **She whirled around and slammed her axes into the enormous blast door. It might as well have been made of cardboard. It crumpled certainly, but instead of pitching backwards it actually snapped and shot backwards, ploughing through the many lines of battle droids that had been waiting on the other side.

"Is there anything you can't do?" asked a clone.

"I can't make an omelette," shrugged Antylamon. "That skill has forever eluded me."

The clones laughed.

"Suzie," Obi-Wan called over. "You stay out here with the tanks. Everyone else, follow me!"

"I'll meet you on the other side," Antylamon nodded and, in a single bound, she leapt upwards and flipped straight over the wall. Suzie watched as Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber and led the clones in a surge of white armour, spilling through the doors like a tidal bore and disappearing into the facility.

Eventually, she was the only person left outside the walls except for the clones driving the tanks, but she couldn't see them. She shivered as she listened to the sounds of yelling men, blaster fire, and loud explosions and crashes that could only by Antylamon from inside. Despite the fact that she knew that the war was necessary if they didn't want to get overrun by droids, she still didn't think she'd ever really get used to it. The sight of all the dead clones would be a memory she could never forget.

She was just glad she didn't have to be part of the action.

* * *

The droids fell under the unstoppable onslaught of the clones. There was nowhere that they could turn to that wasn't filled with at least two gun-toting men. Cody was in the thick of things, slamming droids with his blaster when they got to close and burning myriads of holes into all the others.

Obi-Wan slashed and hacked, parried and thrust with his blade. The droids were attempting to concentrate on him, knowing full well that he was a Jedi, but they just couldn't hit him. He either dodged or blocked their shots, batting them aside like insignificant flies. The droids that weren't hit with their own bolts were sliced to pieces by his lightsaber. Obi-Wan ran forward and leapt onto the back of a Super that had grabbed hold of a clone, plunging the blade into its front.

Antylamon, with her massive size, should have been an easily target, but the bad aim of the droids coupled with her great was more than enough to stop her from getting hit. She didn't even need to hit the droids with her axes; she could just run through a horde and crush countless droids under her giant feet. However, there was one new tactic that she particularly liked doing which she used now to full effect. After ploughing through several droid lines, she whipped around and picked out the biggest cluster of them.

Running over to them, she raised her axes above her head and with a cry of **"BUNNY BLADES!" **she brought them slamming into the ground. The result was an enormous shockwave that threw all the droids she didn't slice or crush into the air. Usually she saved this for vehicles, but there weren't any vehicles around.

Treetor watched all this happening with despair from his little balcony. TA-163 stood beside him. The tactical droid turned to Treetor and hummed, "Sir, I calculate that our best option now would be to retreat."

"I agree," nodded Treetor eagerly. Hurriedly, the two of them turned and made their way swiftly towards the shuttle that could take them away.

* * *

While all of this was going on, there was a second drama that was playing on the surface of the planet. A drama that actually that wasn't far away.

Running towards the facility as fast as he could, was Fnarrg Klefpor. A Rodian smuggler who had ticked off the wrong guy.

Fnarrg had started the day as he normally did, right up until the point that he'd got an emergency call from a friend of his. A Quarren male with a fake eye known as Lauli Wahlo had managed to tip him off about something. He'd been in a bar when he'd heard his name being mentioned by a Nautolan man. When he'd listened in, Wahlo had overheard the Nautolan telling a Klatooinian that he'd just made a request for a Bounty Hunter to go after him.

A Bounty Hunter named Cad Bane.

When Fnaarg had heard that Cad Bane had been sent after him, he'd almost had a heart attack. Cad Bane was extremely well known throughout the criminal underworld. His reputation knew almost no bounds. Word was that he had managed to get the better of many Jedi on his travels and errands. Few Bounty Hunters, not even the famous Jango Fett, could claim that and be telling the truth.

And so, immediately, he'd taken off running. He'd run to the nearest city to the hangar where he kept his ship, only to find that it had been blown up by something. That meant that he was stranded on the planet, and he'd looked around desperately for another ship, but there was none forthcoming from the Swokes swokes, who had always regarded him with distaste anyway.

After this, he'd felt despair. His ship exploding could only have been caused by Bane, unless it was a remarkable coincidence, which he doubted. Bane always worked from the bottom up, getting rid of all escape routes for his quarry before he went in for the kill.

But then, he'd spotted the Republic gunships in the distance and he'd felt hope. It didn't appear that Bane knew exactly where he was, so maybe he could head to the Republic and beg for help. He'd take prison over Bane any day.

But in order to reach the Republic troops, he had to cross the Tract of Makem Te. The Republic had apparently sent forewarning of their arrival to the Swokes swokes, so they'd been able to take everyone living out of the Tract so they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire. Clambering over the wall, Fnarrg began to run towards them at top speed.

Every so often he would glance over his shoulder, but he hadn't seen anything.

Until now.

On his last check, he'd been sure that he saw a shadow slip between two graves behind him. He doubted it was a droid or a clone, and probably not a Jedi either. And he'd been sure that the shadow had been wearing a very large hat.

Fnarrg picked up speed and, gasping for breath, he plunged towards the facility. It wasn't far to go now. He could make it. He could make it if he just hurried.

Almost there. Almost.

Almost...

Suddenly, there was the sound of a blaster being fired behind him and a red bolt smacked into his shoulder. With a strangled cry, the Rodian dropped to ground, the sucker-like fingers jumping up to clutch at the burn mark. His arm had suddenly gone slack, leading him to believe that he might have just received nerve damage. He groaned at the hideous pain.

Fnarrg turned to look around, slowly and painfully, trying to put as little pressure on his arm as possible. He had to see the identity of the person who'd shot him.

His cold-blood ran even colder.

Cad Bane smirked as he strode towards his quarry. He was in no rush at all, and the slow striding towards the doomed increased the levels of fear in their hearts. It made them see him like a harbinger of death. It let them know that he knew there was no escape for them now.

Bane twirled his pistol in one hand and unholstered the other one, brandishing them as he pulled to a halt before his target. He sneered down at him.

"Fnarrg Klefpor," he said. "You gave me a better chase than most, but I've got you now."

* * *

Suzie was listening carefully to the sounds of battle from inside. Every now and then she would pick out the sound of Antylamon shouting out an attack name over the furious and constant sounds of blaster fire.

Suzie was getting braver by the day, what with everything that she'd been through since coming to this universe.

But even so, she still felt suddenly petrified at the sound of a blaster being fired from _behind_ her instead of in front. The blaster sounded louder than the others, but whether that was because it was closer, not muffled by walls or just louder anyway, Suzie couldn't be sure.

Suzie whipped around and stared out at the winding gravestones. At first she couldn't see anything and she stared around, wondering if it really had been a ghost. But then she spotted them. Two figures, one on the ground and the other standing over the one of the ground. They were about a hundred yards away and off to the right, and Suzie couldn't see them clearly.

Curious, terrified, Suzie squinted at them. She thought about telling the clones, but the only clones nearby were in the tanks, and she couldn't get into one of those without any help.

She wasn't sure whether it was curiosity or madness that moved her feet, but, almost unconsciously, she began to move towards them.

* * *

Fnarrg's large multi-faceted eyes stared down the barrels of two large LL-30 pistols, clutched in the unforgiving hands of the Bounty Hunter. He couldn't help but gulp in fear. The eyes were sadistic and merciless, red all the way through with no pupil, iris or whites. Fnarrg knew that he was done for.

"Do you have anything that you want me to relay to Fong Do after your death?" asked Bane.

"Don't – don't shoot me," pleaded the Rodian. "Let me live. I beg you. I implore you."

"Sympathy votes don't work on me, Rodian," Bane sneered. "There hasn't been a target yet that has managed to win me over with pleading, and I've killed dozens of men and women. Most of them, I have to say, were much more imposing and dangerous than you, but a job's a job, right? Even you should know that – after all it was your job that got you into this mess."

Fnarrg was breathing heavily in fear an pain. "Please... no."

"I'd say sorry," Bane knelt down to look the Rodian in the eye. "If I were. Now, brace yourself. I'll take no more than a moment. I can assure you of that – I've seen it happen many a time."

Bane stood back up and took a step back, raising his pistols. "So, I'll ask again, do you have anything worthwhile to say?"

Fnarrg was about to say something that would probably be very stupid, but he got interrupted by a loud, high-pitched scream of "NO!"

Bane's attention was distracted and he turned his head to see a small human girl running towards them. Bemused, he watched as the girl dashed in quickly and planted herself firmly between him and the Rodian. "You can't kill him! Don't kill him!"

Bane blinked. Even he was momentarily startled by this suicide-like motion from the child. What was she thinking? Did she think that he'd just back down?

After his moment of shock, the smirk returned to the Duros' face. "Well, hello there, little girl. And who might you be?"

"My name is Suzie Wong," the little girl replied, glaring defiantly at him despite the pistols. "And who are you?"

"Well, your certainly feisty for such a small child," Bane conceded. "Brave too. But you're very naive, you know that?"

"I'm not little," Suzie pouted. "I'm ten years old. And I'm not naive, whatever that means."

"Naive means that you don't have much experience, kid," Bane chuckled. "Every child is naive. But you, now your something different. What kind of child stands in front of someone else to take a laser?"

"I'm not inexperienced," Suzie protested. "I've seen lots of things. I've faced monsters. I've been helping to fight in the Clone Wars for four months."

"The wars?" Now Bane was interested. "You're with the Republic forces over there?"

"Yeah," Suzie nodded. "And when they finish, they'll come out and take you to prison."

"Where I belong, no doubt."

"Listen... to the child," Fnarrg said desperately. "Have you no mercy?"

"Not a scrap," Bane replied. "But why would the clones be lugging a little girl along after them? Why would they bother looking after you? And what help can you bring?"

Suzie was about to reply, but she caught herself and said, "It's a secret."

"Oh?" Bane asked. "What a pity."

"You still haven't told me who you are." Suzie pointed out.

Bane glanced down at her, and, in a mock thespian style, bowed and said, "My apologies, your littleness. I am Cad Bane, notorious Bounty Hunter, and nobody messes with me, not even children like yourself."

"Cad Bane?" Suzie gasped, stepping backwards. "I've heard of you. You're the one that stole got into the big building with all the Senators and captured some of them."

"Yes, that was me," Bane smirked. "I'm glad to see that my fame is spreading. Now, if you don't mind," he raised his pistols and pointed them at Fnarrg, through Suzie. "Step aside, child. I have a task to carry out."

"No! You can't."

"She's right," Fnarrg cried. "Listen to her." He was attempting to crawl away now.

"If you kill him," Suzie said. "Antylamon will come and cut you into little pieces."

Bane laughed, not bothering to try and contain it. "I don't know who Antylamon is, but I assure you I'll be long gone before anyone has a chance to cut me out. Now get out of the way. I'd rather not kill a child when I'm not supposed to."

"You couldn't kill a child," Suzie stepped closer to the floored Rodian. "Nobody's that bad."

Bane sighed. "Look, kid," he snarled. "If I don't put a blaster bolt through some part of that Rodian that will cause him to die, then I won't get paid. And I like getting paid. As long as I get my money I will carry out any task I'm given regardless of what I have to go through to do it. Right now, you're getting between me and my profit, and if I have to put a hole through your brain to get may pay then you won't stop me. Now, this is your last warning. Step. Aside."

Suzie looked shocked. Suddenly, throwing herself between the Bounty Hunter and the Rodian didn't seem like such a good idea. The idea of killing a child just to get money made her feel a little ill.

"Why do you want to kill him?" she swallowed. She was extremely nervous now.

"He's guilty of attempted rip-off," Bane replied. "Now, are you going to step aside?" He stepped forward lowering the pistol towards Suzie, his finger tightening slightly on the trigger. Suzie stared up at him, into the fierce eyes that glared back, one-hundred percent serious.

"Suzie!"

Suzie whipped around, just in time to see Waxer and Boil sprinting towards her at top speed. She was momentarily relieved. Everything was going to be alr-"

Bane took immediate advantage of her distraction and lunged forward. Shoving Suzie roughly to one side so she hit the dirt, he shot Fnarrg straight in the chest. The Rodian gasped in shock and collapsed, dead as a log.

"Well, kid," said Bane, suddenly lifting into the air on his jet thrusters. "It was a pleasure to have a conversation with you. Too bad your foolish act didn't work."

Waxer and Boil stopped and fired on Bane. The Bounty Hunter dodged to one side and sent off a volley of bolts that forced the two clones to duck behind the nearest grave. Bane didn't stick around, he'd completed his goal. He wasn't being paid to kill the clones, so why bother. Instead, he turned and soared back across the graveyard and back to the city, where he'd left his ship.

"Suzie, are you alright?" Waxer dashed over to her and knelt down beside her. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," Suzie whimpered, unable to look at the dead Rodian. "But he killed... he killed..."

"Bounty Hunter scum," Boil spat. "You're lucky we decided to check up on you, or you'd be dead. Don't get mixed up with them, Suzie. You'll only get yourself killed. They don't have a conscience."

Suzie was too upset not to contradict him and buried her face in Waxer's armour.

* * *

Treetor never got to escape. He was just nearing his shuttle, along with TA-163, when a voice called out, "Hold it right there, Skakoan!" Treetor turned to see Obi-Wan Kenobi, Commander Cody and three other clones emerge onto the landing platform.

"Surrender now," Obi-Wan pointed his lightsaber at Treetor, "And we may go easy on you."

"You're too late, Jedi," Treetor exclaimed. "You may have won the day, but you cannot stop me from escaping in my ship."

"Ship?" Cody chuckled. "What ship?"

Treetor turned around, to find that his ship was already in the air, grasped in the arms of Antylamon and being lifted into the sky. Antylamon tossed the shuttle aside like a piece of garbage, where it smashed against the wall and exploded.

Treetor panicked and turned to flee, but his route was suddenly blocked by an enormous axe slamming into the ground in front of him. The second axe slammed into the ground behind him, cutting straight through the tactical droid. The remaining space that wasn't filled with the rest of the giant bunny became filled with clones pointing their blasters at him.

"Still don't want to surrender?" asked Antylamon.

* * *

Treetor was marched out of his facility, two clones with firm grips on his arms and Obi-Wan walking behind him. The giant bunny had shrunk into a much smaller one and was now riding the Jedi's shoulder.

Lopmon spotted Suzie. She was curled into a ball and looking a little distraught, while Waxer and Boil were attempting to comfort her. Concerned, the bunny jumped off Obi-Wan's shoulder, sailed over Treetor's head and landed beside her.

"Suzie, what happened?" she asked.

Suzie shook her head, not wanting to say anything. Her mind was firmly closed to Lopmon, and the bunny hadn't been paying much attention to what was going on in there during the battle – she'd needed to concentrate on not getting hit. She looked to Waxer for an explanation, and the clone hesitantly relayed the story as he understood it, finding Suzie standing between a Rodian and Cad Bane and then Bane pushing her aside and shooting the Rodian dead.

"Oh, Suzie," Lopmon wrapped her ears round her partner. "What were you thinking? You know how dangerous people can be. There is a reason why you're mum tells you not to talk to strangers."

"I know," Suzie sniffed. "But I thought... I thought..."

"That he'd listen?" Lopmon shook her head. "I've never met Bane by I know that he's committed to his pay. You're lucky that he didn't just shoot you."

Suzie nodded but said nothing.

"Come on," said Lopmon, pushing Suzie to her feet gently but firmly. "Let's get back to Terriermon and the others."

Suzie nodded again.

* * *

It took a couple of hours, during which time Obi-Wan put his renowned negotiation skills to work and met with the Swokes swokes, managing to convince them to rejoin the Republic. With this very much earned victory, Obi-Wan took the two of them to rendezvous with the _Intrepid_ at Devaron.

As they pulled up alongside the cruiser and walked down the crossbridge that formed between the ships, they were met by Aayla coming the other way. She smiled at them and said, "Welcome Master Kenobi. You may find that Anakin and Ahsoka are... momentarily indisposed. I have no idea how, but Ahsoka managed to fill Anakin's chambers with nerfs from the planet below and they're... relieving themselves all over the place."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.

Aayla looked down at Suzie and Lopmon, and her expression shifted to one of concern. Leaning down, she said, "Suzie, what is it?"

Suzie responded by throwing herself into Aayla's arms and telling her everything that she knew. Aayla listened patiently to how she'd confronted Bane, and then lifted Suzie into the air, holding her in her arms.

"I understand why you're upset," she said. "But there are two important things that you can take away from this experience, Suzie."

"What are they?" she sniffed.

"The first is that you are an extremely brave person," Aayla said firmly. "Even with a blaster pointed at your head you stood your ground. You have immeasurable courage for such a young child."

"I'm ten."

Aayla smiled. "Yes, I know. Secondly, that there is good in everyone, even Bane. Despite the fact he could easily have killed you, he didn't. He pushed you aside instead. Remember that, Suzie. Nobody is beyond hope."

"Not even Dooku?" asked Suzie.

"Not even Dooku," nodded Aayla.

Suzie looked heartened. Aayla looked down at Lopmon, who winked up at her and gave her a thumbs-up. Aayla smiled back.

And as for Suzie... the little girl took those lessons, particularly the second one, to heart. Never would she forget them, and considering what was in store for her, Lopmon, Aayla and all the others, this was going to be important.

* * *

Ooh, makes you wonder what's coming next, doesn't it. This oneshot was my chance to get Bane to actually succeed in his mission, considering he didn't get the credit he deserved in my main story so far. I wasn't quite sure how to end this one, so I decided to do the scene with Aayla because it begins to introduce Aayla's for defusing stressful situations, which is also quite important later on.

Hope everybody enjoyed it, because now I'm taking a long break for exams.

Fergus Flamacron, signing off until the end of June or beginning of July.


	5. What The Hell

I apologise for the delay in writing this, but I did go home for the weekend, where it is quite difficult for me to write anything. Anyway, this oneshot is for White Keyblade Oathkeeper. I'm not entirely comfortable with the way this turned out, but I did my best.

This oneshot isn't an adventure oneshot like all my others have been – it's more of a crackfic. As a result, I had less to work with, but I think I did a reasonably good job of it, without making it too awkward. However, it does get very awkward at several points, so much so that I'd like this to be a stand-alone fic. It takes place before Secret of the 327th would have started, and in my main fic, it doesn't happen. You'll find no references to it later in my story.

**

* * *

**

Every Fifty

**Oneshot 5:- What the Hell?**

**Rating:- T**

**Worlds:- Digimon Tamers**

* * *

"Could somebody please tell me how we ended up doing this?" asked the Terriermon half of MegaGargomon.

"Now?" Henry's half asked. "I don't think now would be a very good time."

"Well, I would sure as heck like to know what we're doing here," Terriermon griped. "I could think of a few choicer places than this and many choicer situations to be in. **POWER PUMMEL!"**

Sakuyamon watched as MegaGargomon's enormous fist smacked their attacker from the air and sent him rolling into the ground by the giant Mega's feet. "Nice shot," she said. "Now, Cherubimon."

Cherubimon formed her enormous lightning bolt in her huge hands and with a cry of **"LIGHTNING SPEAR!"** she hurled it right at the small crater in the ground created by their adversary's fall. But their opponent was quick and, seeing the attack, coming, leapt aside, but he was still blasted backwards by the sheer power of the lightning and smashed heavily into a rock. Their opponent stood up and growled evilly.

"What's wrong with this guy?" asked Cherubimon. "I'm sure there were at least three of his kind that helped the Digital World against the D-Reaper last year."

"At least this one isn't constantly telling us to not interfere, or go back to the beginning," said Terriermon. "That one in the movie got quite annoying after a while."

"Terriermon, now might be a good time to think about fighting rather than that movie," said Renamon, throwing up a spear as the enemy threw a **"WEB WRECKER!"** in her direction.

"Yeah, I know," said Terriermon. "Momentai. I got this. **MEGA BARRAGE!"**

The day had started out relatively simply. The Super Six had been on their way to the Sovereigns level, having entered the Digital World via the portal in Guilmon's old hut. The reason behind this trip to the Digital World, were because back in the Human World, Yamaki's grip on things was beginning to slip. More and more people were beginning to complain that enough wasn't being done to seal off the Digimon threat, and many of them were suggesting extermination.

Yamaki had tried to explain to these idiots that extermination wasn't the right answer, because he'd tried it before and it had drastically backfired, AND he'd learnt since that attempt that Digimon did had thoughts and feelings and most of them were indeed very friendly, but his explanations were generally ignored.

In the end, Yamaki had suggested that they settle this democratically and had supplied that the leaders of the human world, or at least the leaders of Japan since while the D-Reaper had been worldwide, Digimon seemed to be exclusive to Japan, should sit down and have a discussion with the leaders of the Digital World. I.e. The Sovereigns.

Henry had pointed out a few inconsistencies in this plan, such as the fact that Zhuqiaomon would not be a great example of a friendly digimon, and that it was difficult to take Ebonwumon seriously, but in the end, it had been agreed that the prophecy trio and their human partners would go and present their idea to the Sovereigns.

So they had entered the Digital World and made their way along towards the Sovereigns level.

And then, they had run into Diaboromon. Yes, the main baddy from the Digimon Movie was currently trying to kill them.

It had to be said that it wasn't quite succeeding, but it was definitely putting up a good fight.

"**CABLE CRUSHER!"** he yelled as he launched himself at Cherubimon's chest, lashing out with his extendable arms and slamming the hands into the giant Mega, striking her just below the neck. Despite, Cherubimon's massive size, she was still thrown backwards by this attack, but she did recover quickly, as she usually did, and responded with another lightning attack.

Diaboromon dodged again and came forwards a second time, seemingly undaunted by the lack of effect his previous attack had and let loose with another **"WEB WRECKER!"** His chest cannon glowed orange briefly before launching a big shot of energy right at Cherubimon's face. The attack struck her in the centre of the forehead, putting a large hole in it. But the gaping wound instantly healed itself over, and now Cherubimon looked pissed.

"I had headshots," she said. "They're always the most icky." Thank Suzie for the childish word. Diaboromon blanched as Cherubimon raised her arms outwards and glared at him. The air crackled and Cherubimon's eyes seemed to spark and practically ignite as she yelled **"STORM OF JUDGEMENT!"**

With an attack of this magnitude, you don't have to have pinpoint accuracy. Lightning bolts streaked from the sky and pounded the area around Diaboromon. The Mega-level virus ducked and dodged, weaved and span around the majority of the bolts, but a slight flag and he was struck in the head and sent tumbling, and upon this happening he was continuously pounded by others. He was slammed into the ground at speed, but the attack was still going and continued to batter at him.

"How's it feel to be the one dodging around and getting hit anyway this time?" Terriermon crowed.

"Will you stop going on about the movie's Diaboromon?" asked Henry. "That's not this guy and you know it."

"Yeah, I know. But that was quite similar to the movie scene against WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. Except it took over a million Diaboromon's to hit the two of them and only one Cherubimon to hit this guy."

"I'm just that good," Cherubimon grinned.

"But," said Sakuyamon. "If he is anything like the movie's Diaboromon, he won't have been beaten so easily."

"Well, let's fix that then," MegaGargomon stepped over to the floored Diaboromon and raised a foot, preparing to mash him into the ground. But Diaboromon, seeing his life was in danger, reacted quickly and sprang to one side. The huge green foot missed him fractionally.

"Aww," said Terriermon. "I always wanted to do that, but once again I miss."

"Terriermon."

"Momentai. AGH!"

Diaboromon had sprung upwards on his elastic legs and struck MegaGargomon under the chin with another Cable Crusher. The giant machine crashed backwards, falling onto his backside with a complete lack of dignity.

"Okay," he said, his eyes narrowing, and as smoke began to billow from the backs of his shoulders. "You're starting to tick me off. **GARGO MISSILES!"**

Two smiley-faces attached to large missiles were launched at Diaboromon. The Virus type made a slight choking noise at the oncoming attack and desperately rolled to one side. He avoided one missile, but the slipstream as it went past blew him straight into the second, which exploded, painfully and threw him straight upwards.

The angry Diaboromon looked down at his would-be victims. He really hadn't expected them to be so hard when he first took them on. They'd just been three Rookies and three Humans at the time. But this was getting annoying.

He went for a target more his size and spun downwards towards the Sakuyamon. The shaman Digimon held her staff in a defensive position, but made no move to attack the oncoming Digimon. Diaboromon was incensed by this. Did she really think a simple staff was going to stop him, wounded though he was?

Just as he was about to strike, he found his answer. Her was suddenly struck from all four points of the compass as four, elemental foxes swept out of nowhere and clawed him, bit him and lacerated him. Sakuyamon smirked as her pre-released Spirit Strike wrought havoc on their attacker.

"I think we've all had enough of you," she said, bringing her staff to bear. "And so, I think I'd be doing the world, both worlds, a great service by making sure that you were no longer in it. **TWIN BLADES OF BEAUTY AND TRUTH!"**

The attack might have a long name, but it was effective nonetheless. As the staff carved two massive, pink energy circles in the air, they rapidly expanded and scythed into the battered Diaboromon, who definitely knew he'd bitten off more than he could chew by now. The Diaboromon from the movies (which of course this one didn't know about) was a much more formidable opponent, due to being in the human internet and able to do things like clone himself, launch nuclear missiles and send swarms of Kuramon into the city.

This one didn't have that advantage. He was just an ordinary Digimon seeking to gain more data and picking a poor target. As Sakuyamon's attack sliced his armour open, he fell to the ground, defeated. He crashed and lay still, broken and battered, data flickering as he barely held onto his existence.

"Alright, Sakuyamon!" MegaGargomon cheered.

Sakuyamon smirked. "All the best for you, Terriermon," Renamon smirked. "I left him alive so that you can fulfil your dream of being the Monty Python foot."

"Don't diss the foot," Terriermon cackled. "The foot owns all."

"What foot?" asked Suzie, who was expressly forbidden from watching Monty Python due to certain mature themes in it which both her parents and older siblings AND Digimon partner had declared she wasn't ready for.

"It's..." said Terriermon. Then he stopped and said nothing.

"It's what?" asked Suzie.

"That was his impression of the 'It's Man'," said Sakuyamon.

"I don't get it."

"Let's change the subject," said Henry. "Please."

"Yeah, I have a new topic," said Rika. "What's happening to Diaboromon?"

The three biomerged Megas all looked down at the outstretched Virus. Each moved away from it slightly, because something was clearly happening to it. The entire thing was being enveloped in light, a little like in digivolution, but it was bright purple instead of white. This wasn't normal and they knew it.

"What's going on?" asked Cherubimon, watching as Diaboromon's chest started to glow brighter than the rest of him, beginning to turn a fluorescent red in colour, while the rest of him stayed purple, rippling and overlapping like he was encased in water.

"I have no idea," said Sakuyamon. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Come on, Henry," said Terriermon. "Put that overdeveloped brain of yours to good use and come up with a few theories for us."

"Terriermon, my brain is not overdeveloped."

"Now is not the time for contradicting me. Any ideas?"

"Maybe," said Henry, talking control of MegaGargomon's arm so that the huge robotic Mega did Henry's classic hand on chin pose. "You see the red part on his chest. I think that that might be his Digi-core. As for the whole glowing thing, I'm not sure entirely, but I can guess. I think Sakuyamon's last attack may have struck him directly in the Digi-core and her power may have poured into it. I think that his Digi-core might be overloading."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" asked Sakuyamon. "He isn't going to leap up and become super-charged because of what I did, is he?"

"I thought that only happened in fantasy films," said Cherubimon.

"Our whole life is like a fantasy film," pointed out Sakuyamon.

"So, just to clarify," said Terriermon, as Diaboromon began to get brighter and brighter. "I shouldn't step on him, right?"

"I don't think that would be a good idea," said Henry. "But you know what I think might be a good idea? Moving back."

"Is he going to blow?" asked Cherubimon, drawing back nervously.

"A distinct possibility," said Henry.

"He's not that big," said Terriermon. "How bad could it be if he does."

Diaboromon exploded in a massive burst of purple light, which shot outwards in all directions from the body, up and to either side, like some enormous bomb had gone off inside his body.

"Open mouth! Insert foot!" yelled Terriermon.

"I quite agree!" shouted Renamon.

The three Megas could do nothing as the massive energy waves from the explosion washed over them, knocking all three of them, even the incredibly heavy MegaGargomon, right of their feet and forcing them to the ground. It felt like high-velocity winds were streaking all around them and pinning them to the ground. They all gritted their teeth as their bodies began to tingle slightly, as if parts of their skin or body were re-arranging themselves, leaving them all feeling like mulch.

It didn't take very long for all three of them to lose consciousness entirely.

* * *

When Renamon opened her eyes and spotted Rika's familiar orange hair in front of them, it dawned on her that they must have de-digivolved while they were unconscious. The fox cursed herself for her lack of negligence. Any random Digimon could have just come and wiped out her Tamer while she lay around in the dirt.

To make sure that didn't happen, she leapt to her feet and dusted herself off, glancing around for any new threats. The desert expanse revealed no new enemies to fight, and the body of Diaboromon had vanished – disappearing completely, which probably meant that he had been deleted.

But what had that strange explosion been really? Had Henry been right and she had accidentally overloaded its Digi-core? She had no idea and now it seemed very little way of finding out.

She turned to the rest of the team, who were all unconscious still. Striding over to her mate, she lifted him off the floor and held him in her arms gently, using her mind to try and find if he was alright, which was difficult when he was unconscious. However, Renamon definitely detected something. Terriermon's aura, his very self, seemed to have changed in some way. A way that she couldn't place.

Renamon frowned. And then she noticed that something in her had changed as well. In her concern for the well-being of the others she hadn't noticed it, but she felt a little different to how she usually did. But she couldn't place why or how.

She glanced over at the crater that Diaboromon's body had made. Had that strange explosion done something to her and the others? And, if so, what had the result been?

Terriermon groaned and began to regain consciousness. And in that very instant, when Renamon was once again able to see the full extent of his mind, she discovered exactly what had happened. Shocked, Renamon almost dropped Terriermon to the ground, because now the fox knew that thinking of the rabbit as 'him' for the last few minutes had been entirely wrong.

Terriermon had turned into a girl.

And right then, Renamon knew that she wasn't a she anymore either. Her Digital Code had been rewritten somehow and she was now a boy.

What in Fanglongmon's name had happened?

"Did anyone get the number-plate of that cement-wheeler?" Terriermon mumbled as he – she – rubbed his – her – head with one paw. "I'm sure I could get compensation for being run over. Whoa, I feel weird. What's the d..." Terriermon got a glimpse into the mind of his – her – mate and picked up what the fox had discovered.

"WHAT THE HELL! WHAT THE HELL! WHAT THE HELL!" Terriermon shrieked.

"I am in complete agreement," said Renamon, looking down at himself. Every external detail seemed to be exactly the same, and his voice was the same as it had been when he had been a female, but she knew that despite all appearances she was very, very different. Particular parts of his anatomy which all Digimon kept hidden from view had completely changed. The thought made him flush with embarrassment, and Renamon rarely flushed. Ever.

But this was a special circumstance.

"Oh, this is too weird," Terriermon moaned, placing her paws over her eyes. She too sounded and looked the same – many Digimon did have both genders in their species, though Renamons and Terriermons weren't one of them, and voice had very little to do with gender anyway. "This might have been a little less weird if we'd done something like swapped bodies, but changing genders? Oh %$£, what is Impmon going to say when he finds out."

"It might be easier for us to conceal it until we can find a way to fix it," said Renamon. "However, I'm not sure the same can be said of our Tamers."

The male and the female, swapped over, glanced down at Henry, Rika and Suzie, all still stretched out on the floor. They knew without needing to be told that whatever had happened to the two of them had happened to their human friends too.

This meant that, while the girls usually outnumbered the boys in the Super Six by two to one, it was now the exact other way around.

Fortunately enough, the Tamers were still thirteen in Henry and Rika's case, and Suzie was still nine. That meant that they didn't have that many external differences that began to develop when they reached puberty as of yet. To that effect, they looked, at least while clothed, exactly the same as they would have if nothing had happened.

But with humans, this was no guarantee. Digimon only really changed when they digivolved and changes as they grew older were rare cases. But these three were still growing, and people were going to start asking questions if Henry started to grow the physique of a girl and Rika didn't. The long-term effects were going to be much more difficult to hide.

Terriermon hopped out of her mate's grasp and landed on the ground, walking over to her sister, who was now her brother if the signs were correct, saying, "Well, we might as well wake them up."

"You seem a bit calmer about this than I expected you would be," Renamon remarked. "I expected you to freak out when you found out, and you did that, but I have to say I expected you to continue freaking out for some time," the fox said as he kneeled beside his partner.

"Well," Terriermon grinned. "I expected you to remain calm about all this. But I suppose you could say that I am slightly hardened to the idea of being a girl after months of being Princess Pretty-Pants."

Renamon chuckled. "You want me to mention that to Suzie?"

"I'd rather not go further into this than I have to," Terriermon shook her brother, trying to wake Lopmon up. "But hopefully she'll want to play with something like Action Man now."

Renamon snorted.

Lopmon groaned and opened his eyes. "Ugh, that hurt," he said, sitting up. "Terriermon, are you alright?" The information about what was going on hit Lopmon like a freight train and he sprang to his feet wildly. "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa! Whoa! WHOA! WHOA!"

"Yep, that was pretty much my reaction," said Terriermon.

"This is just wrong!" Lopmon cried, glancing down at himself wildly. "I have constantly complained about the fact that the Kokomon in the movie was thought to be a guy and now I'M a guy! This cannot be happening."

"I'm afraid it is," said Renamon. "But if you think you're freaking out, let's just wait until we wake up our Tamers." He placed a paw on Rika's shoulder and said, "Rika. Wake up."

Rika grunted and opened his eyes.

For a human, it was much easier to tell when you change genders due to what happens to the lower half of your body.

Rika's loud and ear-splitting panic attack woke up Henry and Suzie, who also proceeded to panic at the prospect of what was facing them. Suzie burst into tears, Henry put her head in her hands and Rika just proceeded to pummel the side of his head, trying to get what he hoped was a hallucination out of his brain.

It took Terriermon yelling her usual catchphrase, which despite the change in gender was still the same "MOMENTAI PEOPLE!"

It worked, to a degree.

"Momentai?" asked Rika. "Momentai? How am I supposed to take it easy when I've turned into a boy? I didn't ask for this! I didn't want this. I happened to quite like being a girl, even if I was a tomboy. What on Earth is my mother going to say?"

"Look on the bright side," shrugged Terriermon. "She might stop trying to take you to photoshoots."

"I'd rather the photoshoots than this to be honest," Rika put his face in his hands.

"I don't want to be a boy either," Suzie sniffed, trying and failing to put on a brave face. "It'll look weird if I play with my dollies when I'm a boy. And I don't want to be weird."

_There goes your Action Man theory,_ Renamon thought to Terriermon.

"Come on, Einstein," Rika turned to Henry. "You're the genius here. How do we fix this?"

"Actually I don't think 'Einstein' really applies anymore," Terriermon put in, with a grin on her face. "Perhaps you should start calling Henry 'Marie Curie' now, or something like that."

"Marie Curie died because of the discovery she made," said Henry. "I'd rather not follow in her footsteps."

"Alright then, Marie Curie," Rika said impatiently. "What do we do about this? I'm the Digimon Queen not the Digimon King. What will the moron twins say about this? Kazu would never let me live it down."

"What makes you think I will?" asked Terriermon.

"I can always ask Renamon to..."

"You don't have to finish that sentence."

"At least Ryo might stop calling you Princess," said Renamon. "That does drive you up the wall."

"And what? Prince is even worse."

Henry's thoughtful pose clearly hadn't changed, despite all this weirdness. As she placed her hand on her chin, Henry hummed quietly to herself, trying to calm his brain from the meltdown it was currently going through due to this ridiculously unnatural phenomenon, and tried to come up with a rational explanation.

"Did any of you feel weird when the energy wave that came from Diaboromon washed over us?" she asked.

"I certainly did," said Lopmon. "It felt like my insides were turning to spaghetti and rearranging themselves. And I'm assuming you felt that too, Suzie, since we were in the same body."

"Yeah, I felt really strange," Suzie acknowledged with a nod of her head. "It felt really creepy."

"And did you two in Sakuyamon feel this as well?" asked Henry. Rika and Renamon both nodded.

"Then this is what I believe happened," said Henry. "This is definitely a product of being in the Digital World. A sudden gender swap in the Real World without undergoing tremendous surgery just wouldn't be possible for us humans, since we are not made of data there. That much is obvious. And I think that whatever is causing this obviously came from Diaboromon. My theory is that Diaboromon, in his dying moments, may have indeed infected us with a virus."

There was a slight pause.

"You're kidding, right?" Rika said, deadpan. "Just like in the movie?"

"With a very different effect," said Henry. "I don't think what this Diaboromon did was intentional. And I believe he is definitely dead now. But still, viruses can rewrite the digital code of a computer hard drive and something similar may have happened in this case, hence the squelchy feeling within us earlier."

"That does make sense," said Renamon. "Viruses can be a problem here in the Digital World. Most of them are harmless enough, like this one appears to be, but some of them can be quite serious."

"I remember this one time," added Lopmon. "When we were in the Digital World after the D-Reaper incident, we all woke up one morning to find that Guilmon had turned bright green and we had no idea how it had happened."

Suzie giggled.

"Well, he's not green now," said Rika. "So that means you must have found a way to fix him, right?"

"Yes," said Renamon, swishing his tail. "Guilmon was green for a couple of days before he turned red again on his own. While here in the Digital World, we are not only susceptible to viruses, but we also do have an anti-virus software within us, similar to something like Norton 360 on your home computer. Every so often, out bodies are scanned and any viruses are eliminated."

"Is that right?" asked Henry. "How fascinating. You really are a practically perfect combination of living being and computer data."

"Why thank you," said Renamon.

"But we don't have that," Rika pointed out. "We're not Digimon. We're just Digital humans. We don't have an anti-virus system."

"No," said Lopmon. "You don't. But, you do have the ability to become a Digimon by merging with your partner. Therefore, we can tell you when we're receiving our scans and can quickly biomerge with you so that your virus gets scanned and eliminated too."

"Good plan," nodded Henry. "How long does it usually take between scans?"

"Usually we get scanned every two to three days," said Renamon. "And since we've already been here yesterday and today, we should be scanned either by tonight or tomorrow. We don't usually get scanned in the Human World because there is no need for the system, but it reset itself the moment we entered the Digital World."

"Good," said Henry. "That means that we won't have to endure this weirdness for very long."

"If your theory is correct, that is," said Rika.

"I'm sure my brother... er, I mean, sister..." Suzie looked confused and bewildered. "Er... is right."

"As am I," said Lopmon.

Rika looked rather relieved, but then he said, "Oh, and one more thing. When we get back to the Human World, nobody breathes a word of this to any of the others. Agreed?"

"Agreed," they all said in unison.

Henry got to her feet and dusted off her hands. "And now, I think it would be a good idea if we were to press on," she suggested. "This maybe be rather inconvenient, but we can't let it distract us from our true mission. We need to reach to Sovereigns."

"Yes, and fortunately, I should be a girl again by that time," Lopmon nodded. "I'd don't want to think about what Makuramon would do if her ever found out about this situation."

"Pajiramon might be annoyed," laughed Terriermon. "It would make her the only girl Deva there."

"Yes, but at least she'd be able to go to you for some girl talk," Lopmon smirked.

"Ack!" Terriermon coughed. She had learnt that what people referred to as 'girl talk' was not something you wanted to hear if you were a boy, and she was only a temporary girl. Fortunately, Renamon wasn't much for girl-talk, so Terriermon rarely had any of it filling his head.

* * *

The progress that they made for the rest of the day was rather slow. For the first half an hour, the humans walked, but they didn't get very far. All three of them were walking rather awkwardly, for reasons that none of them particularly wanted to go into. Henry decided that when she got back, hopefully as a he, then she-he would ask Yamaki if he could invent a memory eraser of something. They could all do with having this incident wiped from their memories. It was slightly disturbing.

After this, the first ever male Kyubimon came into existence, as Rika digivolved her partner and he allowed them to sit on his back. This didn't particularly help matters either, because sitting down for the humans was almost as uncomfortable as standing up now, but they bore it as they rode along.

While the humans were walking in silence, the three Digimon were having an internal conversation. The change in gender hadn't affected the bond between them in the slightest.

_I think this is, officially, the weirdest adventure that we have ever been on,_ said Terriermon._ I really do. And we've seen plenty of weird stuff in all our little forays into the unknown._

_At least we're all suffering the same predicament, _Kyubimon pointed out. _If this had happened to just the one of us it could have been far more embarrassing than it is now for that person._

_Yes, but still, we should have followed Henry's advice and avoided the big blast from Diaboromon,_ Lopmon nodded. _Henry is usually right in his warnings. But I was just so fascinated by all the glowing._

_Momentai, Lopmon, _Terriermon put in. _We made a mistake. Let's leave it at that._

_Terriermon's right,_ Kyubimon agreed. _We should just put all of this behind us the moment we can and never speak of this again._

_At least it'll be over relatively quickly,_ said Terriermon. _I don't think you'd mind too much if we didn't engage in any intimate activities throughout this ordeal, Kyubimon. I think that would just be far too weird and also distinctly disturbing._ The female bunny shuddered.

_I completely understand and completely agree,_ the fox nodded. _When I get back to being a vixen and you get back to being a buck, then we'll continue with our relationship as per normal._

_Oooh, some animal terminology,_ laughed Terriermon. _Very appropriate. I like it._

_What would I be called when I get back to normal? _Asked Lopmon.

_A doe,_ said Kyubimon.

_Isn't that what Takato uses to make his bread? _Lopmon blanched.

_Er, not quite,_ said Terriermon quickly. _He uses dough._ She spelled the two separate words in his head for him. Lopmon looked mildly relieved.

* * *

They continued their trek right across the desert for the rest of the day and, as night washed over them, they settled down to make camp. The two bunnies gathered twigs for the fire, and Kyubimon lit them before de-digivolving back to Renamon. The group of six gathered around the flames and stared into their red depths in silence for several minutes.

"Maybe if I just went to sleep I'll wake up and find that this is just a weird and highly disturbing dream," Rika rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe I won't even remember it."

"It is happening, Rika," Renamon said. "And it would be a bad idea to go to sleep. We will need to react as quickly as possible when my anti-virus system kicks in. We don't want to risk missing it and leaving you as a boy for the next two to three days."

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity if you think about it," said Terriermon. "Maybe you should just go with it."

"Quite frankly, I think this should be a zilch in a lifetime opportunity," Rika replied, a little waspishly.

"I'm trying to work with you, woman. Er. Man," Terriermon faltered. "Help me out here."

"Sorry," said Rika. "But this really isn't the way I envisioned spending my day."

"I think that applies to all of us," said Henry.

"Lopmon, when's it gonna end?" Suzie whined. "I don't want to be a boy. Who's idea was this anyway?"

(A.N. Came dangerously close to breaking the fourth wall there. Teehee.)

"I don't know when it's going to end, Suzie," Lopmon shook his head.

A couple of seconds later, and he looked up abruptly. "Yes, I do," he corrected himself. "It ends now. Biomerge quick."

Suzie didn't need telling twice. He whipped out his D-Arc and pressed it to his chest, crying "Biomerge Activate!"

"**LOPMON BIOMERGE TO... CHERUBIMON!"**

From the moment Suzie entered her little digi-sphere, he began to feel that self-same squelching sensation that he had felt the first time. He sighed with relief, knowing that the brief, but extremely uncomfortable incident was now drawing to a close.

The sensation stopped.

She blinked.

Yes, she.

Suzie was now a girl again, and she was extremely glad that her name now fit her gender. She sighed in relief, looking down at the tiny figures that were her sister, for Henry was still a girl, and her friends.

"It's all good," she called down from Cherubimon's mouth. "I'm okay."

"All the same," said Lopmon, also very relieved to be back in the body of a girl. "We'd better stay in this form until the scan is completed. We don't want to risk not eliminating a virus that we haven't discovered or that hasn't been activated yet, do we?"

"No, we don't," nodded Suzie, firmly.

"Lucky girl," Rika huffed. "She gets to return to normal so quickly."

"Don't worry, Rika," said Henry. "You're time will come tonight as well, I'm sure of it."

"I really, really, hope so."

"Looks like the girls outnumber the guys again," said Terriermon. "Now we just need to see what happens next? Will it become an all girl team first? Or will it be that the guys will outnumber the girls again briefly first."

"You have such an obscure outlook on life, Terriermon," Henry shook her head.

"And no matter what gender I am, that will remain the same," the bunny grinned. "Oop," he added, perking up a little. "I think my musing has been answered. Henry, if you want to be a guy again, we better biomerge now."

"Well, I would," said Henry. "So, Biomerge Activate!"

"**TERRIERMON BIOMERGE TO... MEGAGARGOMON!"**

The giant cyborg almost flattened the campfire underfoot as she stood tall as her sister. As usual, her expression didn't change, but both the occupants of the body could feel the effects of the virus being negated as well. And both were very glad about it as they returned to their ordinary state.

Rika frowned up at them as she watched MegaGargomon turn back into a boy. "Terrific," he muttered.

"Not so fast, Rika," said Renamon. "They're still changing back, and my own system has just kicked in. Biomerge us now, and we can start changing before they finish."

"I'm there," Rika said enthusiastically. "Biomerge Activate!"

"**RENAMON BIOMERGE TO... SAKUYAMON!"**

Everyone was returned or returning to their natural states and it was safe to say that none of them had any gripes about this. They waited in silence around the campfire, which seemed painfully inadequate now it was so dwarfed by two of the three Megas. Then, all three Megas de-digivolved into their individual components.

Rika, Renamon, Suzie and Lopmon were all girls.

Henry and Terriermon were both guys.

It was all good.

As Suzie pulled Lopmon into a bone-crusher, Henry and Rika hugged one another, goofy grins and slight flushes on both their faces. Renamon and Terriermon went the extra mile. The vixen and the buck shared a brief but extremely enjoyable kiss, before breaking apart and Renamon allowing her mate to hop up onto her shoulder.

They sat in silence for a little longer.

"Well," said Terriermon, chuckling in his mirth. "That was an experience."

"And one I never hope to repeat," said Rika.

"Next time we come across a Diaboromon," said Henry. "I say we run the other way. Who's with me?"

None of them, not even Renamon or Rika, objected to this suggestion.

* * *

Fergus Flamacron, signing off.


	6. An Uneasy Alliance

Excuse my lateness with getting this one up, but the wifi at the internet went down for a while and it's only just come back up. I was planning to put it up yesterday evening, and then this morning, but nope. Luckily, it's back up now.

This oneshot is for Movie-Brat and it's mostly all there, but I had to miss out the part with the Nemoidian because firstly I wasn't entirely sure how that would work and secondly I got so much stuff being put into it that I had to skip over it so I could keep this thing quite short. Hopefully the other bits I've added in will make up for the absence of the Nemoidian.

**

* * *

**

Every Fifty

**Oneshot 6:- An Uneasy Alliance**

**Rating:- T**

**Worlds:- Digimon Tamers, Star Wars: The Clone Wars**

* * *

The Outer Rim could be an extremely dangerous place in certain areas, where the laws of the Republic was not as enforced as it was in the Core Worlds around Coruscant. A lot of places in the Outer Rim were in what was known as Hutt Space – the territory of the giant, slug-like creatures that were known for being notorious in crime, particularly a certain Hutt that went by the name of Jabba.

But, even though the territory of the Hutts expanded over a very large area, not every planet within that area was rife with crime, and a good many of them were loyal to the Republic – they just did their best to keep up the values of the Republic and avoid drawing the eye of their Hutt overlords.

One such planet was Tammuz-an in the Tammuz sector. It was located on the edges of Hutt Space, closer to Coruscant than a lot of the other planets within their region. The natives of this planet – humanoids with long, pointed faces and purple or blue skin, and inventively named the Tammuz-an after their own planet – did abide by strict laws. They had a monarchy in their system, with a king ruling one of the two larger kingdoms in the area. The world they lived on was primarily rainforest, although there were some mountains and quite a few cities, made up of large, domed, metal buildings.

And currently, it was under attack from the forces of the Separatists.

Understandably, the Tammuz-an were not very happy about this, so they had sent an immediate distress call to the Jedi Temple once they realized that their own military was not going to be big enough to combat the massive forces of the droids, that were constantly marching through their homesteads and burning as they went.

What they received in aid would surprise even them.

When the Jedi Temple received the transmission, just about all of the Jedi were already away on diplomatic missions or other battles raging across the galaxy. Things were progressing better for the Republic recently, that much was true, but that still didn't mean the Jedi could lose their vigilance – there was a lot still to do.

The A-Team were away on the planet Zolan, seeking to destroy a Separatist facility that had been built on the conflicted world. The native Zolanders were loyal to the Republic, but there was another species living on this planet, the Clawdites, that were loyal to the Separatists. When the Clawdites had allowed the Separatists to build a base, the Zolanders had protested, and the A-Team had been dispatched to help them.

Renamon, Lopmon and their Tamers had gone with them, as they usually did, but Terriermon and Henry had stayed behind on Coruscant for the time being. Both were reluctant to let the others go into battle without them, but unfortunately, Henry had caught a rather nasty infection on the recent mission to the planet Agamar and had to stay behind for treatment. It hadn't taken long to cure him – only about a day – but since the Zolanders couldn't afford to wait that long for help, the others had left without them.

As for the Jedi, the only ones present at the Temple were a couple of Jedi Masters, as well as the younglings that always remained there, practicing their lightsaber stances in the training area. Even Yoda had gone on a mission somewhere, and most of the other Jedi Council were also away. The only ones left in the Temple at the time were Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu. The latter had immediately volunteered his services to go and help the Tammuz-an.

But then, Obi-Wan had asked him to take Terriermon and Henry with him, to help against the forces of the Separatists.

Mace Windu's history with the little, white bunny had left him extremely reluctant to do so.

"You must take every precaution and advantage that can be given to you, Master Windu," Obi-Wan had reasoned. "The Tammuz-an have a very strong military, and if they have asked us for help then the situation on their planet must be serious. Terriermon and Henry could be a massive help in liberating it."

"That Digimon grates severely on my nerves, Master Kenobi," replied Mace. "His constant joking and lack of seriousness do not sit well with me."

"That may be," said Obi-Wan. "But are we not supposed to put aside all differences in these difficult times? How many times have we seen the two of them pull off something incredible to help us win a battle that seemed just about hopeless before? And Terriermon can be very serious when he wants to be."

Mace sighed. He knew that Obi-Wan was correct. His grudge on Terriermon had little real grounds, beyond the fact that whenever he was around, the bunny would inevitable say or do something that would annoy him. He might make an inappropriate comment or he might burst into song for no good reason, which he had now started getting Aayla and Ahsoka to do, or a myriad of other random things that simply left Mace irritated at the end of it.

But, he consented to allow Terriermon and Henry to come along with him.

Terriermon had been jubilant when he found out that they had another mission, as he'd been rather disappointed to miss out on the recent one while his mate and sister and other friends all went along with it.

When he learned who he was going to be working with, however, he paled and hid behind Henry.

_Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to survive this mission?_ He thought to himself.

_He's not a murderer you know, Terriermon_, replied Renamon from right across the galaxy.

_I know,_ said Terriermon._ But if he sends me too many death glares then they might just become real death glares and I'll die of fright. That man scares me sometimes._

_Take your own advice and Momentai,_ said Renamon. _This is your chance to show him just how capable you are. Maybe this mission will put an end to the enmity between you two._

_I highly doubt it,_ said Terriermon.

But he went anyway.

And that was why he was currently kicking-ass once again, in the middle of a massive battle against the droids.

* * *

The battle had started simply enough, like most battles against the Separatist Forces. The local Tammuz-an and the clone forces had been preparing an ambush, hiding behind the trees and waiting for the droids to enter a large clearing where it would be easy to shoot them and not get blocked by the trees. The ambush had started, and Mace had led the charge, his purple lightsaber whooshing from the hilt and begin to swing, taking out the droids wherever it went.

Terriermon had hung back, watching as the droids and the clones clashed in an almighty firestorm of lasers. Henry stood beside him and the two of them watched from a safe distance away, standing on top of a rise, so they could view the battle from above. They were flanked by two Tammuz-an, who had been charged with protecting Henry if anything went wrong.

Terriermon waited impatiently, for his turn to fight.

And it came, as a bunch of Hyena-bombers swooped in over the trees nearby, preparing to drop their shells over the clone ranks. They had been informed that this happened a lot, and was the main tactic of the Separatists on this planet – Hyena bombers would appear shortly after a battle began and blitz the defenders into a retreat.

Not this time though. The Republic had a secret weapon.

"Henry, here they come," Terriermon braced himself.

"Now might be a good time to act," said Henry, turning the card in his hand blue with a simple wish. "And luckily, we brought along our own form of aerial bombardment."

"Well come on then," Terriermon looked up. "Swipe the card already."

"Alright, alright," Henry proceeded to do just that. "Digi-modify!" he cried, sweeping the card through its allotted space on the white and green D-Arc. "Matrix-digivolution Activate."

Terriermon leapt off the cliff and soared into the air as he was engulfed in the light of digivolution.

"**TERRIERMON MATRIX-DIGIVOLVE TO... RAPIDMON!"**

And the cyborg warrior plunged into battle with a loud warcry. Droid and clone alike looked up as Rapidmon zoomed overhead to engage the Hyena-bombers in battle. The clones cheered. The droids looked blankly at each other, hoping someone would have an explanation.

Rapidmon blasted over the Hyena-bombers and brought himself crashing down on one, steering straight into another one and leaping clear from the resulting explosion at the last second, rolling in mid-air as he did so. He zoomed forwards and smashed the wings off another with a vicious kick, sending it spiralling down to the forest floor below them, crashing in a plume of smoke.

Blipping over to another, he took it out with a furious swing of one of his cannon arms, smashing in the head tucked into the body to make the bomber more streamlined. Flipping aside, Rapidmon spiralled towards the others, ducking under one and allowing it to shoot past, sending Miracle Missiles shooting from his back in order to take it out without even looking at what he aiming at. Latching onto another, he hung upside-down from it as it spun downwards, trying to maintain control and failing. Rapidmon smirked and let off a Rapid Fire missile at point-blank range into the droid. The resulting explosion knocked him back a little, but it turned the droid into flying shrapnel which took out two other bombers with the as sharp bits of their comrade sliced through their armour and cut their circuitry.

There were three bombers left now. Rapidmon promptly took out two-thirds of that number with a sudden Tri Beam that streaked across the sky and blasted two of them to smithereens before they had time to see anything beyond green light. The last one managed to avoid the attack, but was unable to dodge Rapidmon himself, who zoomed at it faster than the eye could see and rammed it, sending it spinning skyward. Rapidmon calmly pointed a bazooka arm at it and let off a single missile to finish the job.

"All too easy," he said to himself, before wheeling around to start his aerial attack on the droids.

Mace summoned two Supers with the Force and sliced through them both as they shot towards him, leaping into the air and kicking half of one of them back at the droid forces before gravity could take effect and crashing two battle droids beneath their comrade. He deflected a pair of shots, landed, rolled and came up with his blade sweeping through two more droids in a single arc. Another tried to shoot him from right next to him, but Mace still sent the bolt whizzing up into its face almost before it left the blaster. Then he sprang forwards and kicked another droid in the head, knocking it off, while Mace pushed off from its shoulders and vaulted over to three more Supers.

Three swings in mid-air left three Supers diced into pieces.

The clone forces led by Commander Ponds were faring very well too. Their ambush had been set up perfectly, allowing themselves to take cover behind the many trees while the droids were stuck out in the open. They were diving out from behind the wooden trunks and letting off multiple shots before darting behind another tree as the droids noticed where they were and raised a blaster to shoot at them.

Ponds himself was mostly standing firm at the edge of the clearing, a large blaster rifle in his hands as he constantly shot down a droid everywhere he pointed it. He smirked under his helmet as he shot down two droids in one shot, the bolt blasting through the neck of a B1 and smashing a Super in the face, causing both to keel over together. The clone commander shot down two more Supers, before diving behind a tree as another sent a missile at him. The clone was unharmed by the nearby explosion, so he reloaded and leapt out again to continue his shooting.

Things were progressing well.

* * *

Henry grimly watched from the sidelines once again as his Digimon went into battle against seemingly impossible odds and came out still standing and completely unscathed. He had to hide a smile as he watched his partner flipping through the air, taking out Hyena-bombers left, right and centre. The young, blue-haired Tamer wondered what he would have thought when he was younger if he could see into the future.

He probably would have been horrified at the sight of this. A pacifist who wouldn't let his own Digimon digivolve would be startled to realise he had thrown all his ideals aside. He sighed. He had been so naive. While finding a non-violent solution was always preferable, sometimes it just couldn't be helped and you had to take up arms.

It was remarkable that he, Henry Wong the ex-pacifist, had gained the partner with attacks that most closely reflected modern Earth warfare.

Henry glanced down at the flashing purple light down below, surrounded by bolts of red and blue flying all around it. The Jedi were unbelievable. Their reflexes were amazing, their powers extraordinary and their skills astounding. Henry had long since put aside the idea of everything being explained by science – he'd seen enough of things like Sakuyamon and her magic to have that view changed for him – but the Jedi were something else.

And as for the clones, well, his dad might kill to get a chance to meet the Kaminoans that made them and look at their technology. All the Monster Makers probably would.

"That creature of yours is very impressive," said one of the Tammuz-an standing on either side of him. "He's single-handedly stopped an entire squadron of those bombers. That's incredible."

"How does he do that flying thing?" asked the other. "I can't see any wings or rockets on him to keep him in the air."

"You know," said Henry. "I have no idea why or how Rapidmon can stay in the air. He just can."

"Well, it's certainly handy," said the first Tammuz-an. "With him and the Jedi on our side, we should be able to retake out planet in now time."

"Good," said the second. "And hopefully they won't try to invade it again for a while."

Henry nodded. "If they had any sense they probably wouldn't but from what I can see, battle droids don't exactly have much sense."

"True," said the first Tammuz-an.

"Hey, what's that?" asked the second. He'd glimpsed something out of the corner of his eye and had turned to the right to look behind him. The first Tammuz-an and Henry turned with him and saw, to their surprise, two humanoid beings hauling large, hovering crates behind them as they moved towards two separate speeders. The crates looked distinctly like weapon's crates.

"What are those two doing?" asked Henry.

"I don't know," said the second Tammuz-an. "Where did they come from?"

"Those crates," the first Tammuz-an whispered. "Aren't they munitions containers? Containers that belong to the clones?"

"Hey, you're right," said Henry, suddenly. "Those guys are taking advantage of the battlefield to pilfer the Republic's weapons."

"Pirates," growled the first Tammuz-an. "Despicable thieves. Brigands! Quick, let's put a stop to them."

"Wait, it could be da..." Henry said futilely as the two Tammuz-an ran past him. Sighing, he ran after them.

"Hey, stop!" cried the second Tammuz-an. The two beings, one that resembled a small, bipedal elephant with pink skin, hands and feet – a Pachydermoid – and another large, hulking animal that closely resembled a two-legged pig with green skin – a Gamorrean – looked up from what they were doing and spotted the two rapidly approaching Tammuz-an.

"Oh poodoo," said the Pachydermoid. "We've been spotted! I told you not to be so obvious!"

"Huh?" the Gamorrean grunted. "It not my fault."

"Well, it certainly wasn't mine!" the Pachydermoid retorted. "Quick, let's get out of here."

They hurried over to their speeders and linked up the hovering crates to the back, so it looked like the crates and the speeder were connected with pink electricity. The two looked up and saw the two Tammuz-an bearing down on them, being of considerably lighter build than the two of them.

"You're being placed under arrest," the first Tammuz-an cried.

"Not on my watch," the Pachydermoid cried. "Quick, let's go."

"No," the Gamorrean sneered, pulling a great big axe from his belt and holding it ready. "Me kill."

"Must we go through this again?" the Pachydermoid cried. "You can't go killing everyone that we see."

"But they enemies," the Gamorrean leered. "They dead meat."

"Stop!" Henry cried desperately. "Can't you see that guy has an axe?"

The Tammuz-an either didn't hear him, or they didn't think that what he said was important. They ran forward, straight towards the hulking Gamorrean that was eagerly awaiting their arrival.

"Like I said earlier," said the first Tammuz-an. "You're under arURK!"

The huge, pig-like creature swung his axe heavily and the huge blade smashed into the chest of the first Tammuz-an. A massive, gaping wound opened up thanks to the thick blade, and the Tammuz-an gurgled and toppled over in a heap, convulsing as he died.

The second Tammuz-an was stunned, but he managed to duck under the heavy swing of the Gamorrean and the dodge aside as the pig-creature brought the axe down heavily to try and cleave his skill. But he was unprepared for the Gamorrean bulling forwards and nailing him in the chest with his shoulder, knocking him to the ground. The Gamorrean squealed triumphantly and raised his axe above his head.

He brought it down.

Henry stood, frozen in horror, as he watched the two that were supposed to be protecting him die right in front of him. The Gamorrean looked triumphantly and beat his chest with his huge, meaty hands. "Harharhar," he guffawed stupidly. "Me kill! Me strong! Me the bestest! Harharhar!"

Henry was horrified. This guy had enjoyed killing the two Tammuz-an. He was celebrating a cold-blooded murder. This wasn't like a Digimon, who would respawn if they were deleted in battle and not absorbed. Those two were dead for good.

He thought he was going to throw up.

"Me the strongest!" the Gamorrean crowed. "You dead."

"Hey, look," the Pachydermoid pointed right at Henry, who had a hand to his mouth and was staring at the dead bodies of the Tammuz-an – too stunned to move or even think. "A kid? A human kid? What the heck is he doing here?"

The Gamorrean looked at Henry and shifted his axe. "Me don't know," he said. "But me kill him now too."

The Gamorrean advanced on Henry, raising his axe above his head. The young Tamer's brain started functioning again at the sight of the huge axe being hefted upwards to strike at him. Henry turned and ran, stumbling as went, and preparing to call to Rapidmon with his mind. But unfortunately for him, he was too slow. The Pachydermoid pulled a blaster from the speeder and shot Henry in the back. But the shot wasn't the usual red bolt. It was blue and bigger than normal, with a ring around it, making a whistling noise as it went. It also didn't leave a mark on Henry, but he collapsed to the ground all the same.

The blaster had been set to stun. And Henry had indeed been stunned.

"What you do that for?" asked the Gamorrean dumbly, standing next to the unconscious Tamer. "Why you not kill him?"

"Isn't it obvious?" asked the Pachydermoid.

"No," said Gamorrean. "Me kill him now." The Gamorrean raised the axe over the helpless Henry, but the Pachydermoid leapt to his defence.

"No! Don't you see! There are no humans living on this planet and the only offworlders here besides us are the Republic and the Separatists. Why would either of them be taking a child around with them, hmm? He's not a Jedi or a clone cadet, so why is he here?"

"I dunno," the Gamorrean said, scratching his head. "What the point?"

"Exactly," nodded the Pachydermoid emphatically. "What the point of taking a child around with them? I'm pretty sure it wasn't the Separatists, so it must be the Republic that brought this kid with them. And they wouldn't bring a kid along if it wasn't for some important reason. I don't know what it could be, but there is one there."

The Gamorrean still looked bemused. "What you saying?"

The Pachydermoid sighed exasperatedly. "I'm saying that, if we play our cards right, we can hold this kid hostage and demand a ransom for his safe return. A nice big ransom to get back such an important kid."

Now the Gamorrean got it. "Hurhurhurhur," he guffawed stupidly. "Lots and lots of money."

"Indeed. Lots and lots of money. Worth more than these here weapons," the Pachydermoid indicated the crates. "Now, come on. Let's get the weapons and the kid back to the boss, so we can start demanding that ransom."

"So, we not kill him?"

"No, you idiot. If we kill him, they won't pay us."

"Oh." The Gamorrean nodded and picked up the unconscious Henry as if he was a doll of some kind and slung him over his broad shoulder. Then, the two of them mounted their speeders and zoomed off over the hills with their new bounty.

* * *

Captain Gir Kybo Ren-cha, was relatively new at being a pirate leader, but he was already building quite a name for himself around this part of the galaxy. He lead a large band of mercenaries and other pirates, so that they could plunder and pillage wherever they felt like going. They didn't dare go any further into the galaxy than the Outer Rim just yet, but they all believed that one day they might just make it that far.

Kybo Ren was a Human, resident of the nearby planet of Tarnoonga. He wasn't tall and strong – in fact he was relatively short and he was extremely portly, with a huge rounded belly that was too big for the shirt and trousers he wore, so you could always see his belly. He wore blue trousers and brown boots, as well as brown shirt beneath his shoulder-armour and a breastplate, which didn't look like it covered his whole chest. There was a helmet of his head, and he also had a long, thin, droopy moustache and a small, pointed beard on his chin.

He may not be a pirate of good physical build, but he was extremely good at what he did best – piracy. He was currently sitting in the middle of the camp he had made in the forest of Tammuz-an, quaffing an ale and watching his pirates carry out various jobs, or just laze around doing nothing. Tammuz-an was one of their most favourite places to come and make their raids, as it was an extremely wealthy planet and the rainforests provided good cover.

Most of his fellow pirates were human, but there were a lot of other species mixed in too, such as the occasional Bith, Nikto, Quarren and a few others besides.

He saw two of his followers – the Pachydermoid and the Gamorrean (he never bothered to learn the names of most of his followers) enter the camp on their speeders. He noticed that they had brought back the munitions he had ordered them to, but the Gamorrean had something slung over his shoulder. A child?

Placing down his flagon, Kybo Ren strode over to the two of them. "And what is this?" he asked, gesturing at Henry, still unconscious over the Gamorrean's shoulder. "I asked you to bring back munitions, not some Human kid."

"Yes, sir," said the Pachydermoid. "Of course, sir. Look see," he patted the crates reassuringly. "It's all there, everything you asked for Cap'n. But I thought..." The Gamorrean snorted pointedly. "Oh, er _we_ thought that you might want to get your hands on some more money."

Kybo Ren chuckled. "You've lost me boys. Just how am I supposed to get ransom from some random kid that probably doesn't even live on this here planet?"

"Well," said the Pachydermoid. "You see sir, he was guarded by two of the Tammuz-an, and he appears to be with the Republic. Whatever they'd got him here for, it must be important, right?"

Kybo Ren frowned, and stroked the stubby beard thoughtfully. "Possibly. But first, we have to find out for sure."

* * *

Commander Ponds deftly put a hole in the second to last of the battle droids with his blaster and watched as Mace advanced on the very last battle droid on the field. The droid looked around at all of its comrades lying on the ground and said, "Er, there's no way I'm getting out of this, am I?"

"No," said Mace.

"I thought so," said the droid, sagging a little as Mace swung his blade.

"Well, that takes care of that," said Ponds, propping his blaster rifle onto his shoulder. "Those clankers didn't have a clue what hit them, did they?"

"Of course they didn't," said Rapidmon, thudding into the ground beside the Commander and towering over him. Ponds didn't flinch – he'd starting getting use to this sort of thing by now. "Those droids are too stupid to know what hit them unless its right in front of their face."

"I saw you up there in the skies," Ponds looked up at the Ultimate. "You're like a flaming commando droid with rockets and super speed. I can see why Bly enjoys working alongside you guys."

"What can I say?" shrugged Rapidmon. "It's a natural gift. Destruction is what I do best, alongside playing video games, quipping and generally getting people to do silly things?"

"Like this prank war you've started between General Skywalker and his Padawan?" asked Ponds, chuckling.

"Yeah. Like that," nodded Rapidmon. He glowed briefly and shrunk back into Terriermon, hopping up onto Ponds' shoulder as he did. "You should have seen this one time where Ahsoka managed coat Anakin in engine oil. I still don't know how she managed to get his shower to spray out that instead of water."

"Looks like she's surpassing you, little guy," said Ponds.

"Not yet," said Terriermon, grinning subtly to himself. "Not yet."

Mace walked over to them. It irked him slightly that his Commander and his troops were getting on so well with the little bunny. Several times when they'd been in a difficult situation that required them to pull off something drastic to win the day, one of the clones had said, "Momentai sir. We can do this." Or something along those lines.

"Good work, Commander Ponds," said Mace, "and good work to all of your men. And," Mace cleared his throat. "Good work to you too, Terriermon."

"Praise?" asked Terriermon, blinking. "Seriously. Is it Christmas, or is it Judgement Day."

"What's Christmas?" asked Ponds.

"You don't have... of course, you wouldn't would you? You didn't have Jesus or the Bible. You poor, depraved person," said Terriermon, sympathetically. "I feel so sorry for you."

"Er, why?"

"Perhaps we should discuss this some other time," said Mace, pointedly, prompting Terriermon to shut up. "We may have won this particular battle, but the planet is far from retaken. Ponds, get the men ready. We're going to move out as soon as we can."

"Copy that, sir," Ponds stood to attention and turned to carry out his orders. Terriermon leapt off his shoulder and landed on the ground by Mace's feet.

"Terriermon," Mace looked down at him. "Go and fetch your partner. We'll need him to be ready to move as well."

"Yes, sir," said Terriermon formally, following his mate's advice to try and get in Mace's good books. Then he frowned. He couldn't sense Henry's presence like he usually could ever since the Digi-Gnome had granted them a mental link. That in itself wasn't unusual, since Henry could close off his mind at will, and he often did during battle situations so as not to distract him with random thoughts.

But it wasn't like Henry to keep communications closed after the battle was over.

Terriermon began to feel slightly uneasy as he took to the skies, stretching out his ears to catch the breezes and be pushed aloft. He flew back towards the clifftop where he had jumped from to digivolve to Rapidmon. As he got nearer, the sense of unease began to grow, and he knew that something was wrong even before he got there.

He swept over the cliff and his eyes were met with nothing but the forest beyond and the stone ground before him. Henry had gone? Why would he leave? He knew better than to go running off in the middle of a battlefield, didn't he? Especially after that incident on Ryloth.

Terriermon looked around and then, to his shock and dread, he spotted something else. Flying down, he landed beside the bodies of the two Tammuz-an guards that had been assigned to look after Henry while he had been battling. They both had enormous, bloody wounds in their chests that looked like they had been made by an axe of some kind. Terriermon had seen Antylamon in action many times – he knew an axe wound when he saw one.

But Henry wasn't here. Panic began to rise up in him as he continued to search for Henry. But his Tamer had gone. He had simply vanished of the face of the planet.

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap," Terriermon muttered to himself over and over again as he desperately searched for any signs of Henry. "Where is he? Where is he?"

_Calm down,_ Terriermon heard the ever present voice of his mate, Renamon, resound in his head. He didn't need to be psychic to tell she was worried too. _Running around in circles is not going to help anything. Go back to Mace and talk to him. Tell him Henry's gone and the guards are dead. He and the clones will spread out and search. And they will find him._

_Yeah,_ nodded Terriermon. _Yeah, you're right. Of course. He's gotta be around here somewhere. Thanks, Rena. I'll go._

_You'll find him, Terriermon,_ soothed Renamon. _Have faith. They won't stop looking until they find him._

_Yeah, but will he still be alive when they do?_ Terriermon murmured.

Renamon didn't answer. Terriermon knew she didn't have an appropriate one to that. She had no more idea than he did.

But then, Terriermon spotted something. Huge boot prints in the areas where the stone gave way to muddy ground. He studied them. The owner must be massive – the print was of enormous size itself, and it was incredibly deep. But this must be the axe weilder, because just then, he found an enormous chip in the rock surface that looked like it had been knocked out by an axe.

Just then, there were a couple of shots down below. Terriermon whipped around to see two lasers being sent straight up into the air. Blue ones. One of the clones was signalling to somebody and since everyone else was down in the valley, it was probably meant for him.

Perhaps they'd learned something.

Terriermon ran to the cliff edge and leapt into space, gliding down to the forest floor, and skimming through the trees towards the main clone outpost. When he reached it, he found that Commander Ponds was waiting for him, and the clone with red patches on his armour had let off the shots in the first place.

"What is it?" asked Terriermon quickly, landing on the ground beside him. "What's the problem?"

"My guess is that you already know the answer to that question," said Ponds gravely. "Come on. Master Windu's speaking to someone via hologram. I think you should see this. But stay out of sight."

Terriermon nodded and, hopping up onto Ponds shoulder, he allowed the clone to take him to where the Jedi Master was currently speaking with someone on a small, portable holotable that the clones had brought with them. Standing holographically on it was a large, fat man that, if they had been the same size, would have made Vikaralamon look skinny.

Terriermon hopped up into a tree so that he could listen to the conversation without being spotted.

"I assure you," Mace was saying. "There is no child under our protection. However, if you do have a child held prisoner, then I request that you do not harm him."

"If he's not under your protection, then why do you care?" asked the man.

"Because I am a Jedi, and it is my duty to make sure that any innocent life is kept safe if I can. What are your terms for the release of this child, Captain Kybo?"

Kybo Ren chuckled. "You are so sappy. Very well, my demand is a million credits. I wanted it by the end of the week, or the child will die, is that understood?"

"Perfectly," said Mace. "Where should we contact you?"

"I don't think so," said Kybo Ren. "I'm not revealing my location to you. We'll contact you every day, until we get what we want. Then we'll arranged a rendezvous point."

"Very well," said Mace. The hologram vanished.

"How can we be sure he's telling the truth sir?" asked a nearby clone.

"He is," said Terriermon, darkly, dropping from the branch. "I just went up there. The two Tammuz-an are dead and Henry's missing. He's being held hostage."

"Pirate scum," growled Ponds. "I'm sorry, Terriermon."

"Not your fault," said Terriermon. "But we've got to rescue him. We're not leaving him in the clutches of those pirates for a week. Who knows what they'll do with him for that long?"

Mace glanced at Terriermon. The bunny had a totally serious expression for once. Having his partner taken from him must have cut him deeply, and Mace could see that it was clearly agonizing him.

"We will rescue him," said Mace. "But we have no idea where to look."

"I do," said Terriermon. "A vague idea anyway. I found footprints at the scene of the crime that didn't belong to either Henry or the Tammuz-an. There were a few of them and they were heading in that direction." Terriermon pointed off to the north. "And that's where I'm going. Agh, why did I de-digivolve?"

Terriermon started off into the trees, but Mace said, "Terriermon, wait."

"You wait if you want," Terriermon growled. "But my Tamer is in danger and I'm not going to stand around and do nothing."

"I am aware of that," said Mace sternly, reminding Terriermon that he was in charge here. "But I was merely going to say that I shall be coming with you. You and I shall free Henry from this Gir Kybo Ren-cha."

Terriermon nodded and impatiently shuffled from foot to foot. "When?"

"Now," said Mace. "Ponds, get the men together. I'm leaving you in charge until I get back. Press on to out next chosen destination and wait for Terriermon and I to arrive back there with Henry."

"Yes General," said Ponds.

Mace then strode off into the trees, with Terriermon walking right behind him. Ponds watched the go. "Good luck," he muttered.

* * *

Mace and Terriermon walked through the undergrowth and they were still walking twenty minutes later. After a brief discussion, they had decided that they would continue in this direction until Terriermon felt the presence of his Tamer again but that if they didn't find anything within an hour, Terriermon would take to the sky and try to spot something from the air.

But Mace was very clear that Terriermon was not to attack the pirate base without him being there.

The two of them walked in silence. Neither particularly wanted to start a conversation with the other, and both were thinking about the situation. Despite that fact that Mace was often at odds with Terriermon, the Jedi Master rather liked Henry. For his age he was extremely precocious and quick and eager to learn. He wasn't brash or arrogant or fawning like a good many of the younglings his age were. He had a good head on him for such a young person.

Both of them were privately wondering if he would be alright.

Terriermon didn't particularly want to start a conversation either, because he seemed to have a habit of saying all the wrong things around Master Windu. He just didn't seem to know how to approach this man, as his normal jocular and fun-loving attitude didn't seem to cut it. He sighed, and continued to trot through the bushes right behind him. He didn't dare hop up on Mace's shoulders or head like he usually did with his taller companions.

Then, Terriermon's ears pricked as an ever so slight noise reached them. He listened quietly at a sudden, clicking noise that was only just barely audible to his super-sensitive ears. Mace continued walking, not hearing the sound himself, but to Terriermon, it sounded like it was coming from directly behind them.

Terriermon had heard that noise before.

It was a sniper rifle, zeroing in on its target.

And he was betting it wasn't him.

"Get down!" he yelled and sprang forwards, catapulting himself onto Windu's back and cannoning the Jedi Master between his shoulder-blades. Mace was knocked onto his stomach by the little white cannonball, but it saved his life, as the red bolt zipped through the air where Mace's head had been a split second before.

Mace was on his feet in an instant, his lightsaber bursting from the hilt as he parried another shot aimed at his stomach and another that would have hit his chest. Terriermon was rolled to the floor as Windu's sprang up, but he got to his feet quickly too, scanning the foliage for the enemy.

There was more than one sniper. Either that or he was as fast as Rapidmon, as there were numerous shots coming from the bushes and shrubs from multiple directions. Mace was having to spin in circles as he parried the precise shots, not having a clue who was shooting them. The snipers were hidden extremely well.

Terriermon, on the other hand, was hidden by the bushes. He shut his eyes and concentrated on his best sense – his hearing. Now, as the snipers continued their shots, he could hear the clicking of their rifles as they primed them in an attempt to assassinate Mace. He could also hear shuffling as they moved position slightly, trying to get a clear shot at the dancing Jedi.

Henry's sensei had taught him that listening to his other senses was just as important as listening to his eyes. So, with that in mind and keeping his eyes shut, Terriermon wheeled around and cried, **"BUNNY BLAST!"** letting fly with a round of green pellets into the nearby bushes. There was a yelp of pain as his attack connected with its target. Terriermon grinned and leapt forwards, spinning in a **"TERRIER TORNADO!"** to smack into the Human assailant and knock him out completely.

Terriermon nodded in satisfaction, his eyes still shut. Turning around, he zeroed in on his next target, ignoring the sounds of the lightsaber blocking the bolts. He repeated the process, blasting the enemy with his ranged attack and then darting forwards with his melee attack to complete the job.

He had to do this five more times, before there was only one sniper left. The tide of red bolts he was letting off ceased when he realised that all of his comrades were being knocked out by a seemingly invisible assailant. The Nikto, for that's what he was, got up and started to run, knowing he didn't stand a chance of assassinating a Jedi that knew he was there by himself.

But Mace saw him and extended his hand, calling him back with the Force. The Nikto was jerked backwards and flew the air as if he'd been lassoed and came to a tumbling halt beside Mace's feet. He looked up, to find the tip of Mace's lightsaber hovering dangerously in front of his face.

Terriermon trotted over, but kept out of sight. He wanted to watch what was going to happen.

"Now," said Mace. "I would quite like to know why you just attacked me. And if you know who I am, you may know that I'm not a very patient Jedi."

Terriermon repressed a snort. Nobody knew that any better than he did.

"Please, Master Jedi," the Nikto grovelled, visibly shaking. "I- I- I was just following orders. Captain Kybo Ren can be... excruciatingly unpleasant to those who don't do what he wants them to do. Please, it wasn't anything personal."

"Spare me the lying," said Mace smoothly. "While you may have indeed been following orders, who weren't doing it just because you'd get punished if you don't. If you're one of Kybo's band, then you're in this for the money, aren't you?"

The Nikto got to his feet and began to back away. "I swear... I swear, I didn't mean nothing by it, Master Jedi. I didn't even want to be a part of that group. I was coerced..."

"Didn't I tell you to spare the lying," Mace growled. The Nikto shut up. "Now, what am I going to do with you. I haven't exactly got any binders or the time to take you into custody, so what options do I have?"

It was a rhetorical question, aimed at himself, but the Nikto's eyes widened in fear. Being a pirate, he naturally jumped to the conclusion that Mace was about to kill him. Yelling in fright, the Nikto turned and sprinted into the rainforest as fast as he could. Mace sighed and simply raised a hand to Force-pull him back again.

However, this time, when the Nikto came flying backwards through the air, something else physically intercepted him. A large, dark shape leapt out of the foliage – Terriermon caught a glimpse of massive claws and an enormous fanged jaw – and grabbed the screaming Nikto out of the air. The two rolled off into the nearby foliage, and the whatever-it-was shook its head savagely, whipping it backwards and forwards with furious abandon. The screams of the Nikto were suddenly cut off and there was an audible crunch, and then the creature stood up, with a limp and dead Nikto hanging in its jaws.

_Oh great,_ thought Terriermon. _More dangerous, indigenous wildlife. Where's Taomon when you need her?_

_I heard that._

_Yeah, I know._

The creature looked up at them, its four eyes blinking at the sight of them. It was rather feline in shape and stature, standing about a metre high and four-and-a-half metres tall. It had extremely light brown fur, almost cream, with darker brown stripes. It's mouth was huge and full of dagger-like teeth, currently buried in the dead Nikto. It had a set of quills running down its spin and its tail was long and rat-like, but split into two about two thirds of the way down, like MetalSeadramon's tail. Its claws were hidden by the foliage, but Terriermon could guess that they were huge.

"Er," said Terriermon, as its red eyes regarded them. "What is it? Although I'm not sure I want to know."

"It's a nexu," said Mace. Terriermon suddenly remembered something Ahsoka sometimes said – "Look what the nexu dragged in." This is what she was referring to? He'd pictured something smaller and, to be frank, cuter.

The nexu dolefully set down the Nikto and began to chow down on it. Terriermon avoided looking directly at it, but then he started as a second Nexu emerged from the trees. It made for the kill the first nexu had made, but the first nexu growled and swiped at the second, warning it away. So, the second nexu turned to the nearest other available source of meat.

"What do we do now?" asked Terriermon as it made to spring.

"Running would be a good idea," said Mace.

"Yeah. I thought that's what you'd say." Terriermon turned and immediately sprang into the air, lifting his ears as he glided away at speed. Mace turned and followed him, using the Force to add speed to his movements. They heard the nexu leap after them, its agile paws pounding the ground as it began to give chase, brushing aside the foliage as it went and roaring as it went.

Mace didn't look back as the nexu shot after them. He knew he could probably kill it easily enough, but the nexu had such powerful jaws and claws that when it leapt at him, it could quite easily take him with it.

And so, the best option was escape.

But nexu were so fast that this proved to be problematic. They had a light stature and bone mass, which made them vulnerable to hard blows, but they were usually so fast they could avoid such things.

Terriermon glanced back as the creature ploughed after them, gaining rapidly despite the speeds they were going at. "Bad kitty!" he yelled at it. "BAD KITTY!"

"Now's not the time for jokes," Mace shouted up at him, and he took a great leap, using the Force to lift himself into one of the giant trees, landing on a branch with relative ease. The nexu didn't even break its stride. It leapt upwards, rebounding off the trunk of another tree, then it wrapped its tail around a thick branch and actually used it to swing towards Mace. The Jedi leapt aside just in time as the branch he was standing on was shredded by the powerful claws of the beast.

"Come on!" Terriermon cried, as Mace fell to the ground, rolled and got back onto his feet in one motion. "This way!"

The two of them shot through the trees once more and the nexu, after spitting out a large portion of branch from its huge mouth, followed quickly. Once again, it began to gain on them.

"I don't think we'll be able to outrun it!" shouted Mace.

"If I could digivolve I'd show that cat was speed really is," growled Terriermon. "This'll have to do. **BUNNY BLAST!"**

Terriermon peppered the nexu's face with his green bolts. The nexu faltered in surprise, batting at them with a clawed paw, then it merely waved the attack away and continued his pursuit. But Mace now had a couple more seconds headstart.

Then, suddenly, they were in open air. The trees had ended and they were in a clearing. A large one, with a hill in the centre of it. Terriermon looked down, taking in the sudden change in scenery with surprise. Then, for the second time that day, he stopped Mace in his tracks.

"Watch your footing!" Terriermon cried. Mace looked down, just in time to avoid putting his foot on what was definitely a mine. The large, black disc with the red light in the centre was easy to identify. If you hadn't known it was there, it would be easy to step on it, as it was half-hidden in the tall grass.

They were standing in the middle of a minefield!

Mace whirled around as the nexu burst out of the foliage with a triumphant roar. Clearly it thought Mace had stopped because he was tired or had given up. It stared at him for a second, before plunging into a charge again.

"The mine!" Terriermon cried as he circled overhead. "Use the mine!"

Mace clicked. A grim expression appeared on his face. The nexu was just trying to feed itself, but this was a case of kill or be killed, and the galaxy had far too many Jedi dying these days. Mace stood his ground, stepping over the mine until he was on the other side, and waiting as the nexu bore down on him.

The nexu pounced.

Mace leapt straight upwards.

The nexu landed on the mine and with a massive explosion, it went up in smoke. Mace backflipped and landed a few feet away, sighing as he looked at the pieces of fur and quills that remained where the mine had once been.

"That," said Terriermon, swooping in for a landing. "Was officially the most Action-man-like thing I have ever seen in my entire life."

"I'll have to take your word for it," said Mace. "Since I have no idea what that meant."

"Oh, it was a compliment. Believe me," nodded Terriermon.

Mace looked down at the Rookie, who had picked up one of the nexu's quills in one hand and was holding it like a sword. "Listen, Terriermon. I... uh... I wanted to thank you for... saving my life back there."

Terriermon stared, utterly confused. "Pardon?" he asked, after a few seconds.

"I said, 'I wanted to thank you for saving my life.'"

"Are my ears playing tricks on me? You're actually thanking me for something? This has got to be a weird dream."

"Obi-Wan was right," Mace rolled his eyes. "You can be serious. But only when you want to be."

"Well, I'm serious now. Let's go get Henry back."

"Yes, that would... WATCH OUT!" Mace sprang backwards, grabbing Terriermon with the Force as he did so and yanking him clear, just as a massive missile struck the ground where the two of them had been standing and tore it to pieces.

"Wow," said Terriermon. "Now you saved _my_ life. But I'm still in the lead."

"Blast!" cried Kybo Ren from where he was standing at the top of the hill. "You missed!"

"Sorry, Captain," said the man holding the rocket launcher. The pirates had heard one of the mines they had placed around their camp being set off and decided to investigate. When they spotted Mace talking to what appeared to be a small, white thing, Kybo Ren had directed his man to take them out.

"Well, don't just stand there!" Kybo Ren cried. "Kill him! Kill him now!"

Mace and Terriermon both heard the shout, and Mace leapt aside, Terriermon's ear grasped in one hand as another missile came flying in their direction.

"They seem to be focusing on me!" Mace hissed.

"That's because they don't think I'm important," huffed Terriermon. "Shows what they know."

"We'll use it. You go round and find Henry, while I keep them busy."

"Alright," nodded Terriermon, hopping out of Mace's grip. The two of them separated as another missile streaked to where they were standing, exploding the ground between the two and adding to their speed for them.

Keeping his senses open in search of more mines, Mace leapt, flipped and zig-zagged around the field, his lightsaber springing to life in his hand as he avoided the missiles being sent at him. Frustrated, Kybo Ren ordered his men to fire at the Jedi with blasters too, but Mace had no trouble with these either. Even cartwheels didn't stop him from parrying the shots, as he used only one hand.

"Where'd that white thing go?" asked the man with the launcher.

Kybo Ren angrily smacked him in the head. "Never mind the white thing. Focus on the Jedi. The Jedi is more dangerous."

Mace was beginning to get closer and closer to the pirates at the top of the hill in his zigzag run. He heard Kybo Ren's announcement and had to repress a smirk. Underestimation was perhaps Terriermon's biggest weapon, at least in his Rookie form. When he digivolved he got a lot of even bigger ones.

* * *

Terriermon swooped away from the camp and then doubled back on himself, so as to enter it from a completely new direction. The camp was mainly comprised of tents and bunkers, but he could quite clearly everything that was going on down there. He couldn't see Henry, but it didn't take a genius to work out that the Gamorrean and the Pachydermoid standing by the entrance to one particular tent were guarding something.

Terriermon landed at the back of the tent, tiptoeing over to the grey fabric. Quietly, he blasted little holes in it in the shape of a square and threw himself against it. The little door collapsed inwards and he was in the tent.

Henry was sitting in the middle, surrounded by crates of food. The Tamer looked around as Terriermon entered and beamed at the sight of his partner. "I knew you were coming," he said.

"Of course," nodded Terriermon. "You could sense my presence getting nearer. I didn't notice though. I was busy running away from a hunting nexu at the time. You still have your D-Arc?"

"Yep," nodded Henry, pulling it off his belt.

"Then let's give those guards outside a bit of a shock." Henry nodded as he pulled out a card, which turned blue.

* * *

Mace leapt over the next missile and fell down, swinging his blade to slice through the missile launcher with ease. The other pirates were backing away now, keeping up their impressive rate of fire, but Mace's blocking skills were even more impressive and most of the blasters were knocked out of the hands of those holding them.

Kybo Ren tried to back off, but Mace grabbed the pirate captain and whirled him around, putting him in a headlock and holding the purple lightsaber to his neck. "Surrender!" he told the crew members. "Or your Captain dies."

The pirates faltered in surprise and uncertainty, but at the sight of Kybo Ren's furious expression, they complied, lowering their blasters.

"Now, Gir Kybo Ren-cha," said Mace. "You're coming with me back to Coruscant where we can put you in custody."

"No! No!" Kybo Ren cried. "I still have the prisoner. A trade! I propose a trade! You give me back to my men and they'll give you the kid. But if you kill me or take me away, the kid dies." Mace growled, but didn't say anything else.

"You two," Kybo Ren looked at the Gamorrean and the Pachydermoid. "Go get the kid!"

The two guards nodded and entered the tent. A split second later, there was a loud shout of "RAPID FIRE!", a large explosion and the two were hurled out of the tent; blackened, battered and dead. The pirates gasped in surprise as Rapidmon emerged from their food tent, his cannons cocked and ready for action. Henry stood beside him.

"Did you know your bread had gone mouldy?" asked Henry.

"Of course they did," said Rapidmon. "They're just to stupid to figure out that's a bad thing."

Mace smirked at the stunned face of Kybo Ren. "There will be no trade," he said to the pirate captain. "Your days as a pirate are over. You and all your men are under arrest. Rapidmon, if one of them runs, don't hesitate."

"Wasn't planning on it," Rapidmon pointed his cannons at the men. They cowered and complied. The ragtag group of beginner pirates had just been disbanded.

* * *

Kybo Ren and his men were not taken back to Coruscant, in the end. They were held in prison on Tammuz-an itself. Apparently, he and his men had been plaguing the planet recently, and the Prince of Tammuz-an reserved the right to take him into custody. Mace didn't object.

A few more decisive battles later and Mace and Terriermon were able to return to Coruscant. As luck would have it, they returned at roughly the same time as the A-Team and the other Digimon and Tamers. Renamon and Lopmon hadn't told Suzie and Rika about Henry's capture by pirates – neither particularly wanted to worry them too much about it, and they felt that if anyone should tell them then it should be him.

Terriermon rounded the corner in the Jedi Temple, to find the rest of the group talking quietly in the corridor. Renamon turned around and winked at him as he did, but the three Jedi didn't notice his presence. Terriermon sprang into the air, swooped down the corridor and crashed on Anakin's shoulder, yelling "SURPRISE!"

"Gah!" yelled Anakin, jumping as Terriermon snickered, while Aayla and Ahsoka, who ahd both spotted Terriermon coming, also chuckled. "Terriermon! Where'd you come from?"

"I thought we'd already established that," said Terriermon. "I was born in the Digital World, and then I moved to the Human World and then I was sent here by..."

"You know what I mean," Anakin huffed.

"Yeah," said Terriermon. "I know. I just got back from our mission to Tammuz-an."

"With, if I am correct," said Aayla. "Master Windu. Was it... eventful?"

"Yes, it certainly was," said Mace as he rounded the corner, with Henry walking beside him. Suzie cheered and ran over to see her big brother, with Rika following behind her at a more regular pace. Mace walked over to the A-Team and the other Digimon.

"Glad to see you didn't tear each other to pieces," said Lopmon from Ahsoka's shoulder. "When we learned that you were going on a mission together we thought the exact same thing."

"And that was?" asked Mace, raising an eyebrow.

"Something like 'Oh dear. This should be interesting,'" laughed Ahsoka. "And from what Renamon and Lopmon told us it certainly sounded interesting."

"You were what!" Rika cried, staring incredulously at Henry, and then turning to give an accusatory glance at Renamon. The fox waved innocently, then chuckled. Evidently Henry had just told them about his little trip into the world of the pirate.

"Well, anyway," said Mace, "I think that I might be able to cope with you a little better now, Terriermon. I may not have seen much of a serious side of you before, but I certainly saw one on Tammuz-an. Perhaps, now that I've seen it for myself, I can tolerate all your little practical jokes."

"Good to hear," said Terriermon.

"You do know that you were effectively a restraint on him, don't you?" asked Renamon. "He hasn't been pulling off his more elaborate pranks for fear of your reaction. This place is going to be a circus within a week now that you've said that."

"Thanks for the advice, Renamon," nodded Mace. "Just don't go too far, okay Terriermon?"

"Er, you'll have to be more specific," said Terriermon. "What is the limit of 'too far.'"

"I'll make sure it doesn't happen," Renamon cut in.

"Thank you," said Mace. "Now, Skywalker. Have you made your report to the Chancellor yet?"

"No, I was just about to," said Anakin.

"Then let's go," said Mace. "They're already waiting for us."

"Yes, Master," nodded Anakin. Terriermon hopped off his shoulder as he and Mace turned around. A couple of seconds after Anakin turned around, Ahsoka's hands flew to her mouth to suppress a silent burst of laughter. Aayla brought one hand up to her own mouth and the other to her stomach in order to control her own laughter.

"What do you think on my Aurebesh?" asked Terriermon.

"He's going to make a report to the Chancellor," said Lopmon. "Shouldn't we stop him?"

"Nah," said Aayla, laughing silently. "Leave it there. We can ask Master Yoda to describe the faces of some of the Senators when they see that thing later."

"My thoughts exactly," said Ahsoka.

Because, Terriermon had been learning how to write in Aurebesh recently. While the beings from the two separate dimensions could understand one another verbally, the alphabet and the way letters were written was very different in this universe.

But Terriermon had successfully written and stuck a sign to Anakin's back that read 'I LIKE BEING SPANKED!"

"I hope Senator Amidala sees that," said Renamon. "That would be hilarious."

"Just how does Anakin fall for the sign on back trick so much?" asked Aayla.

"I don't know," said Ahsoka. "But I'm glad he does."

* * *

That scene with the mine and the nexu was a tribute to the ITV series known as Primeval, where a similar situation occurred with a man named Danny Quinn, who was being chased by a Phorasrachus at the time.

As for the nexu itself, there is nothing that says it is native to Tammuz-an, but there is also nothing stating that it isn't. There isn't anything listed as a native to that planet except the Tammuz-an themselves.

Plus, Gir Kybo Ren-cha wouldn't actually be around at this point in canon, as it is too early for his pirate career. I guess you could say I bent the rules a bit with this oneshot.

Fergus Flamacron, signing off.


	7. Through Brown Eyes

Big news everyone. This is going to be the last Every 50 oneshot that I do for a while. It's not because I don't like doing them, but I would quite like to focus on my main story for a while. I may reintroduce it at a later date, or I may not. It all depends on whether I feel like it later on.

Anyway, I quite enjoyed writing this oneshot for Geekgirl. I hope you enjoy reading it, as it focuses on a character from the Digimon universe that I have paid very little attention to in the grand scheme of things in my story so far.

**

* * *

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Every Fifty

**Oneshot 6:- Through Brown Eyes**

**Rating:- T**

**Worlds:- Digimon Tamers**

* * *

Things had not been easy on any of the Digimon Tamers since they began their intrepid adventures into a world that they previously had all believed to be fiction – just a television series and a card game that was fun to watch or play. But, for one of the Tamers in particular, life hadn't been easy for a long time before she gained her partner and after she had, it just got even harder, although she didn't realise it would at first.

Jeri Katou was that Tamer.

She was the only one of the Tamers who had a parent that had died. Everyone else, except for her good friend Rika Nonaka who didn't know her father, as he had left them at a young age, had two parents. Jeri had one, as her mother had left this world and gone into the next when she was still young, leaving her alone with her father.

As could be expected, Jeri had taken her mother's death very, very badly indeed. That was hardly unusual, the lose a parent at such a young age could be extremely traumatic on anyone, particularly if that parent had been as kind and caring as Jeri's mother had been. And the situation was made all the worse by her father. He meant well, but he didn't really have the first clue about how to properly raise a child. He tried, of course, but as time passed his efforts seemed to dwindle until he became quite distant from poor Jeri, leaving her to mostly fend for herself. The fact that he was generally quite a strict and severe person by nature didn't particularly help matters either.

Jeri had adapted to being alone reasonably well, and had come up with a little fox-like hand puppet in order to give herself a friend and someone to talk to and at least pretend that it was answering her back. She forced herself to be cheerful and happy, because she thought that that was better than being depressed and bitter.

Then, her father had re-married. That, in Jeri's view, had been extremely hard to adjust to. She was still traumatized by the death of her mother, partly due to the fact it was a recent event and partly because Jeri's father hadn't really known how to comfort her, claiming that the death of her mother was "because of Destiny." For a young child like that, or indeed for anyone, an explanation like that would seem extremely cold.

Her new stepmother had been nice enough, but Jeri had never given her a chance, refusing to communicate with her if she could help it and unwilling to accept her into the family. This had continued for many, many years, and when she gained a new step-brother, it was almost like the remarriage was being rubbed in her face.

Because of this, she still had her hand-puppet companion by the age of twelve.

But then, her life had changed drastically, when she had met her first Digimon, in the form of the cute and innocent Guilmon, who, at the time, was still developing and even more child-like than he was now. Playing with Guilmon and his partner Takato Matsuki became second-nature.

Then, she met Leomon. Her own partner.

After the rather embarrassing introduction to him, where she had chased him around claiming, in a bizarre twist, that their meeting was destiny, only to discover he was _not_ her partner at all, she met him again later on, and this time they _did_ become partners. Jeri's life was finally beginning to look up. She had her own Digimon partner, someone who really _could_ talk back to her, unlike her hand-puppet (which she still kept because of sentimental value).

But, in her naivety, she hadn't counted on the fact that she could one day lose Leomon. After many adventures they had together in the search for Calumon when he was kidnapped by the monkey Deva, Makuramon, they ran into Beelzemon and Jeri watched, powerless, as Leomon was killed right in front of her. In his dying moments, Leomon had repeated her father's words, claiming that it was because of destiny.

Abruptly, a shell slammed up all around Jeri, and she seemed almost completely oblivious to everything around her. She ignored everything, even an almighty battle between Azulongmon and Zhuqiaomon themselves, and in her sorrow her cheerful front evaporated and she sank into a deep, deep state of depression, turning once more to her hand-puppet for company.

And this had allowed her to be infected by the D-Reaper.

And that had been an absolute disaster.

It had taken the combined efforts of Calumon, Gallantmon and a reformed Beelzemon to snap her out of her funk, but she still remained a prisoner due to her own fear at the fact her partner's killer had just used her own partner's attack to try and break her out. When the D-Reaper finally was defeated, her will had hardened and things began to look up for her once again. She and Takato had gotten much closer, her father had gotten closer too as a result of her abduction, and she even found it in her heart to forgive Impmon for his terrible deeds and finally let her stepmother into her heart.

But still, the fact that she no longer had a Digimon loomed over her head. It was rather selfish to admit it, but it was easier to bear when everyone else lost their partners when they were pulled back into the Digital World. But, then the Digimon had returned, and once more she was without a partner while the others had theirs beside them.

Then the Ogudomon Debacle had started and she had found herself to be a useless observer throughout the whole ordeal. The others all had partners would could help and she had none. It wa slightly easier to take due to the fact that Kenta, Ai, Mako, Suzie and Kazu had to stay on the sidelines too, because they could not biomerge with their partners. But then, Suzie and Kazu had managed to do just that, and Jeri's unhappiness at her powerlessness grew.

But then, Ogudomon was defeated. And it was on that day, that Jeri's life got even better once again. And this was because after the battle, Anubimon, Digimon of the Dead, had visited the Tamers and had been thoughtful enough to extract Leomon's absorbed data from Impmon's body and reform it into Leomon's Digi-egg.

Impmon had shyly presented it to Jeri, and Jeri's self-esteem bubble almost exploded with happiness.

* * *

About a week had passed since Anubimon's surprise visit, possessing the body of the Egyptian Jackal that Renamon and Terriermon kept as a pet. Jeri sat in the living room in the house behind the bar her father worked in. She was staring diligently at the Digi-Egg seated in the centre of the coffee table. It was upright, despite the fact that it should logically roll over onto its side. And it had been there since Jeri had brought it downstairs that morning and would remain there until the evening and Jeri took it back up to her room, or it hatched.

Jeri was a patient person usually, but her unlimited excitement when she had received the Digi-egg, which was mostly white but a tawny-golden stripe that resembled the colour of a lion's fur running up the middle, had turned into unending impatience. She had had the Digi-Egg for a week and it still hadn't hatched.

She spent the majority of her time seated on the sofa and staring at the egg expectantly. The egg went everywhere with her, even to school, and Jeri struggled to pay attention to Ms. Asaji's lessons while she stared at the egg.

A tumult of thoughts swept constantly through her brain as she eyed the egg. She was being given a reprieve, a second chance at becoming something special. Children her age would do almost anything to get a Digi-Egg of their own (in fact, one kid had attempted to steal Leomon's egg at the mall yesterday and probably would have gotten away with it had Henry, Terriermon, Suzie and Lopmon not been nearby at the time) and now she had one.

Jeri shut her eyes and remembered her last attempt at being a Digimon Tamer. She couldn't help but feel that she had failed spectacularly at it. Not only because of her ridiculous actions when she first met Leomon, but because she also felt she contributed next to nothing to the Tamer group as a whole. Yes, she managed to defeat Orochimon, but not before getting kidnapped by that same Digimon just beforehand, and her partner had also saved Guilmon from possession by Behemoth the motorcycle and saved Kyubimon by preventing Beelzemon from stabbing her, right before he got stabbed himself, but that was about it. Leomon's destruction of Kumbhiramon didn't count, as he had not been Jeri's partner at the time

This time would be different, she promised herself. This time, she would actually do some good. She would actually be a helpful Tamer. She'd received training in the card game by Rika and Henry, with Ryo occasionally giving advice (when Rika wasn't looking), so she knew what most of her rare cards did now.

One of the things she was most looking forward to would be biomerging. She watched on the sidelines time and time again as Takato, Henry, Rika, Ryo, Kazu and Suzie all merged with their partners and went off to fight. She just couldn't grasp what biomerging must feel like, no matter how hard she imagined it. She was looking forward to the experience.

She opened her eyes and glanced at the Digi-egg. Still nothing. She sighed. This was getting old real fast. She desperately hoped the reason that the egg wasn't hatching was because she wasn't taking care of it properly, but she really didn't have the first clue as to how to take care of it, like her father had been with her after the death of her mother.

For the first couple of days, she'd clutched it in her arms and refused to let go of it for any reason. But Rika and Renamon had popped over to see how she was getting on, and Renamon had advised her to not do that. When it came to a Digi-egg, the best approach, according to the fox, was to leave it alone and be patient. As long as it wasn't eaten or squashed, and the latter could well have happened in Jeri's bear-like grip, it would be fine.

"Still here, Jeri?" asked a female voice as Jeri's stepmother, Shizue Katou stepped through the door. Sounds of giggling could be heard from behind her – little Masahiko was obviously playing tag with Calumon outside. "You know, you have to eat something soon."

"I know," Jeri smiled at her stepmother, who she had become remarkably close with once she finally accepted her presence. "But... I just can't stand to leave him here by himself. I've waited so long for him to come back to me, and now that he's here, I just can't leave him here."

"I understand," nodded Shizue with genuine affection. Truth be told, she was rather looking forward to seeing the egg hatch, once she'd been reassured that Leomon wouldn't be as hyperactive as Calumon was. "I'll go and make some sandwiches for you then, shall I?"

"Yes, please," nodded Jeri, before turning her stare back to her charge. Shizue left the room and returned a few minutes later with some plain cheese sandwiches and a couple of slices of apple on the side of the plate.

"Here you go, sweetheart," said Shizue, sitting beside Jeri and handing her the plate.

"Thanks, Mum," said Jeri. Shizue smiled at the name. She felt they had hit a milestone in their relationship when Jeri finally started calling her that.

Jeri picked up the first sandwich, glanced again at the Digi-egg (still nothing) and took a bite into the bread.

CRACK!

Jeri paused and frowned. She was pretty sure that cheese didn't make that noise unless it had gone very, very out of date and this bread was far too soft for that. Shizue gasped and placed a hand on Jeri's shoulder, pointing at the egg. Jeri gasped too, as it cracked again, forming a horizontal split right across the middle of the egg.

Jeri put her plate down and leapt of the sofa, leaning by the table. "It's hatching!" she shouted. "HE'S HATCHING!"

"He is!" cried a voice from the garden and, a couple of seconds later, Calumon zoomed into the room and landed on the table. "Ohboyohboyohboyohboy!" he cried. "Yay! Leomon's finally hatching!"

Masahiko – Jeri's step brother – stumbled into the room a few seconds later. He was growing fast, but he still couldn't match the boundless energy of Calumon and he was panting slightly, while Calumon continued to bounce around the room, cheering and whooping. "Goody," the little boy wheezed. "He took ages, didn't he?"

"Ssh," said Shizue, her and Jeri's attention focused solely on the egg, the latter having to restrain herself from grabbing it, for fear of scaring the Baby Digimon that would emerge. Leomon was tough, but his first form probably wasn't.

The noise that Calumon was making drew the attention of Jeri's father, Tadashi, who stepped in through the door that led to the bar. "What's all the commotion abou- oh, never mind," he added as he spotted the egg suddenly jerking as the crack around its middle widened considerably.

Calumon stopped bouncing excitedly and stood beside the egg. All five members of the Katou household leaned forwards slightly, eyes widening as the egg rustled and twitched and all wondering what was about to come out of it. None of them realised that they were holding their breath.

Suddenly, with a _pop_ the top half of the egg was knocked off and sent rolling away. The bottom half of the egg stayed where it is and it was holding a very small and very, very red little creature. Jeri had expected it to be a blob, so she wasn't surprised by the fact that it was. It had a squishy-looking body, two eyes, a small mouth and three feeler-like projections growing out of the top of its head.

"A Punimon?" asked Jeri, blinking at the sight of the creature she recognised from the Primary Village in the cartoon show. "You're what Leomons all start out as?"

"Apparently," said Punimon, bobbing from his egg and landing of the table with a squelch. Tadashi flinched – the little creature reminded him of a miniature D-Reaper or something, and he'd had enough experience with _that_ in the past, thank you very much. But Jeri didn't appear to notice, and her eyes were shining with joy and happiness at the sight of her partner reborn. Granted, he had some growing to do before he took the familiar face of Leomon, but at least he was alive.

Aware of his squishy body, Jeri gently took him into her arms, being careful not to swuash him just in case he burst or something.

"I can't believe it's really you," Jeri whispered, as her eyes moistened – not that she tried to stop them from doing so. "Oh, I've dreamt of this moment L- I mean, Punimon. You've finally come back to me."

"Jeri," said Punimon in a squeaky voice. "Where am I? How did I get here? The last thing I remember was that we were being attacked by Beelzemon and then the evil-" Punimon's eyes widened considerably, taking up about half his entire body. "Oh my Fanglongmon, he killed me!"

Jeri nodded sadly, holding Punimon gently. "Yes," said Jeri. "He did. And then he absorbed your data. It's been over a year since I last saw you, Punimon. And now... now you're back."

Punimon shook himself, trying to hide the shudders creeping up where his spine would be if he had one. "Well, at least you survived. What about the others?"

"They're all fine," nodded Jeri. "Everyone's alright. We've had quite a few close calls, but we've managed to all pull through."

"But," Punimon frowned. "I don't understand. If Beelzemon absorbed my data, then how did I get here? Was he destroyed?"

"Uh..." said Jeri, not quite sure how she was going to broach the subject of Impmon's transition to good. "Well... er... you see... the thing is..."

"Hey, Jeri!" shouted a voice from outside. "Creampuff? You in there?"

"Creampuff?" asked Punimon confused. Then he spotted Calumon and said, "Oh hello. You're Calumon right. Well, at least you were rescued too. I didn't die in vain."

"No, you most certainly did not," said Jeri. Then she called out, "We're in here!"

The timing wasn't what she would call perfect, but perhaps it was best that Impmon be present for this part of the whole event. The purple imp strolled through the glass doors that Calumon and Masahiko had left open and walked into the living room. The little Rookie visited most days, to check on the progress of both Jeri and the egg.

"How's things going here?" he asked as he walked in. "We got a little family gathering or... some... thing..." Impmon trailed off when he spotted the broken halves of the Digi-Egg on the table and the small, red blob in Jeri's hands.

"Er..." he said, blinking in surprise and not a little shock.

Punimon frowned at him. "Have we met?" he asked. Leomon had never seen Beelzemon in his Rookie Form, but Punimon couldn't help but feel this purple imp creature was familiar.

"Er..." said Impmon. "That... depends. Are you... er, Leomon?"

"I will be someday," said Punimon. "Why?"

Impmon sputtered and stammered slightly, but he eventually swallowed and said, "Well, it's... er... brilliant to see that you're... er... alive again."

"Punimon," said Jeri, tightening her grip on the little guy almost unconsciously. "This is Impmon."

"Impmon?" frowned Punimon. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Because..." said Jeri, slowly. "Impmon is the Rookie form of Beelzemon."

Punimon's eyes expanded further than ever. "HE'S BEELZEMON?" he squealed. "He's the guy who killed me?"

"Yes, yes, yes," said Jeri quickly. "But he's not an evil, raving lunatic anymore. He's been reformed. In fact, he tried to save my life a couple of days after he killed you."

"A key word being tried," muttered Impmon. "I wasn't exactly very helpful was I? That bl- er, wretched D-Reaper stabbed me in the back when I was trying to get you out of the Kernel Sphere."

Punimon blinked. He had completely lost track of the conversation. "What?" he asked, a bit too confused to feel that much fear, anger or resentment towards Impmon at the moment.

Jeri sighed. "I better start at the beginning."

And she told Punimon everything, with Impmon and occasionally Calumon chipping in now and then. She told him about her sparing Beelzemon's life, her depression, the D-Reaper, how Beelzemon had stubbornly tried save her and almost got killed for it, and how things had been ever since then, finishing with how Anubimon had extracted Leomon's data from Beelzemon just a week ago.

Punimon's young mind struggled to take it all in, but he managed to do it. Punimon turned to look at Impmon, who was looking nervous. Not nervous of Punimon attacking him, as the only thing a Baby Digimon could beat was a weaker Baby Digimon, but he was nervous of Punimon's opinion of him.

"Well," said Punimon. "It seems to me, that you took my lesson to heart. Eventually," said Punimon.

"Yeah," nodded Impmon. "You were right. To have power is not to be strong. That's what you said and I know that now. I'm only sorry it cost you your life to drum that into my head."

"And," said Punimon. "It _also_ seems to me that I should thank you for trying to correct you mistakes. I'd say that you've more than made up for your actions."

Impmon blinked. "You mean it?" he asked. "I'm off the hook."

"Yes," said Punimon. "As Leomon, I was always a Digimon devoted to honour and justice. That's still the same. You truly are sorry and you have repaid your debt in kind, almost getting yourself killed in the process."

Impmon grinned. "Cheers, Leomon," he said. "Er. I mean, Punimon."

"And now that that's over with," said Shizue. "Allow me to welcome you to the family, Punimon."

"You wanna play tag?" asked Calumon instantly.

"Whoa, Creampuff," said Impmon. "He just hatched. Cut him some slack."

* * *

Jeri took Punimon to the park the next day, in order to reintroduce him to everyone and to introduce him to the few people he hadn't met before. Punimon was happy to see everyone in top condition, but the union of Terriermon and Renamon as mates surprised him just as much as it had surprised everyone else. Jeri had also been feeling a warm glow inside her as the others all congratulated her and her partner.

At last, she was a Tamer once again. Granted, the Digimon she had was small and powerless as of yet, but she was still a Tamer again. Her heart had ached a little whenever she had gatherings with the other Tamers, despite the fact that she had tried to put Leomon's passing aside, but now her heart was bursting with joy again.

Punimon turned out to be quite playful, as most Baby Digimon were, and he even joined in with many of the fun and games, making him instantly popular with Guilmon and Calumon. Punimon also observed something else, and that was how close his partner had gotten with Takato – a fact she had neglected to mention in her story of events yesterday.

When he spoke to the others about this, Guilmon had said, "Oh, even I've noticed it. I think that they should be doing that thing that Renamon and Terriermon do and put their mouths together. Kissing, I think its called. Apparently that's what people do when they love each other."

"Yeah, but when it comes to their lovelife, both of them are too dense to realise their feelings for each other are mutual," said Terriermon. "I managed to get them to kiss once by landing on Jeri's back when she was talking to him and pushing her into him. But they still haven't gotten it into their heads. It's maddening."

"We're currently trying to think of a way to finally get them to notice the blatantly obvious," said Impmon. "But we're not making much headway."

* * *

Punimon had digivolved that very same day, when he and Jeri went back to their house and began to eat at the dinner table. After consuming half his plate extremely rapidly, Punimon had suddenly glowed and shouted **"PUNIMON DIGIVOLVE TO... TSUNOMON!"**

Tsunomon was another familiar face from the kids show, considering he was also Gabumon's In-Training form – white-faced, brown furred and with a huge spike on his head. Jeri had been slightly confused by all this, but Tsunomon assured her that he was going to become a Leomon again eventually, and not a Garurumon. He said that many Digimon shared lower forms

Shizue had been fascinated and had wondered aloud what Tsunomon would look like when he finally became this Leomon she'd heard so much about – she hadn't actually met Leomon before Jeri had left for the Digital World.

Jeri had responded by pulling up a YouTube video of one of the episodes of the Digimon cartoon – she still couldn't watch the MetalEtemon episodes without bursting into tears at the end so she pulled up one of the earlier ones where Leomon was a good guy – and showed her stepmother. When Shizue saw who tall Leomon was compared to the kids, she freaked out, wondering how Leomon was going to fit in the house.

"Yeah, I wondered about that too," muttered Jeri, sadly. "I suppose he'll just have to sleep outside or something."

"In rain and snow and all other weather?" asked Shizue. "He'd catch his death of cold."

"We Digimon are pretty resilient," said Tsunomon from beside the computer, "But I don't think it will come to that. I have a solution."

"What?" asked Jeri.

"Well," said Tsunomon. "Most of the other Digimon, with a couple of obvious exceptions, stay in their Rookie forms for the majority of the time. I could quite easily do the same. I don't have to Digivolve to the Champion level and stay that way if I don't want to, do I?"

"Yeah," Jeri nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, you could do that. What is your Rookie form anyway?"

Tsunomon winked. "You'll just have to wait and see," he said impishly.

* * *

And indeed she did see. It took about another week or so before Tsunomon digivolved again, but eventually he did and he became another incredibly familiar face. But it wasn't a Gabumon. He had become the caretaker of Primary Village – Elecmon.

That meant that a lot of children hounded Elecmon in the future, coming up to him when they were in the shopping centre or in the street and examining him. Jeri learned from Henry that he and Terriermon got this an awful lot too, because while all the Digimon were now famous, Terriermon was also part of the cartoon, so he got more attention too.

Jeri and Elecmon took to hanging around with Rika and Renamon, so that the two older girls could spend some time together and so that Elecmon could hide under Renamon's perception filter if the population became bothersome.

It didn't take long for a Digimon to bio-emerge and, ironically, it turned out to be an Ogremon. Naturally, everyone felt obliged to allow Jeri and Elecmon to battle him while they watched from the sidelines. Jeri, determined to get the first battle where she knew what she was doing all the time right, set to it with a determination. The much-missed face of Leomon reappeared on the battlefield and he and Jeri fought against the Ogremon, pulling off a decisive and clean victory, sending the Ogremon to visit Anubimon to a bit.

As usual with the first attempt, Leomon struggled to de-digivolve back into Elecmon. Terriermon and Guilmon, who were both masters at this, promised him that it would become easier and then started doing their usual handstand exercises to help him along. Leomon proved to have much better balance on his hands than Guilmon could ever have, and he stood that way for half an hour, with Terriermon and Lopmon standing on their ears next to him, and Renamon also doing a handstand, while Guilmon and Impmon tried and failed to do so several times.

Elecmon landed in a rather comical heap on the ground when he finally did de-digivolve. But he laughed along with everyone else.

* * *

Time passed and Jeri began to get more and more settled with being a Tamer once again. The thrill of having a partner never really went away from her, she realised. And she wondered if the others all experienced the same thing. They probably were, considering they too had lost all their partners, and regained them recently too, although it was a different sense of the word 'lost' for them. For her, last time she had a partner she lost him after only a week or two, but now she had one and it looked like he was here to stay. It felt great.

But there was one thing that still nagged at Jeri's mind. It was probably just a silly little thing that had nothing to do with anything but Jeri still felt like she was the lesser Tamer – the least skilled and the weakest member of the group. Whether this was because of past history, or because Elecmon was the only member of the Digimon Team (besides Calumon) that could not reach the Mega level, or for some other reason entirely, she didn't know.

She didn't voice this thought to anyone else, except for Elecmon himself.

"That's ridiculous," Elecmon had scoffed. "You are in no way weak. As I have said many a time, you have a lion's heart. The only thing you lack that the others have in experience, especially considering they've had their partners either much longer or for a while after my untimely demise."

Jeri nodded and agreed, and yet she still couldn't completely purge herself of this feeling. It was bizarre.

Eventually, three months passed and Jeri was no closer to getting Elecmon to the Ultimate level than she was to biomerging. She often sighed to herself as she thought about the tough Digimon she knew so well, like Gallantmon, MegaGargomon, Sakuyamon and all the others. She knew what she would probably become if she did ever biomerge with Elecmon, but she still wanted to experience it for herself.

She wasn't the only Tamer struggling with all of this. Kenta Kitagawa had had a wish granted by a Digi-Gnome, meaning that his own partner, MarineAngemon, was capable of de-digivolving to his own Rookie Form, which would allow Kenta to biomerge with him. And yet, they hadn't been able to do it either.

Ai and Mako were also a little put out that they couldn't biomerge with Impmon. Nobody was entirely sure if a Digimon with two Tamers even _could_ biomerge with them. Everyone agreed it was possible that they could probably do it one at a time, but the twins were adamant that they did it together or not at all.

Jeri spoke to Henry about how to biomerge.

"It's like this, I think," said Henry. "Biomerging needs to be unlocked, as far as I can see. The situation has to be right for biomerging to occur. When the rest of us biomerged for the first time, it was always during times of great need. Perhaps it's because there must be a true sense of togetherness and determination for biomerging to occur, but we'll just have to wait until we have an encounter with a Digimon powerful enough to ignite that need."

And so Jeri waited, and waited, and waited. And the waiting wasn't easy, but she did it anyway.

* * *

Eventually, an opportunity presented itself.

Takato had arranged for all of the Tamers to go and spend some time with his cousin, Kai, in Okinawa, for a much deserved rest and relaxation during the Easter Holidays. Everyone was looking forward to the trip, but about a day or so before they went, Takato himself was suddenly struck by an extremely potent, although not very dangerous, fever. He found himself weak and it was difficult for him to get out of bed.

Takato had insisted that everyone else go on the trip anyway, so they wouldn't waste the tickets. It took a bit of cajoling, but eventually most of the others agreed. However, Terriermon and Impmon both dropped a not-so-subtle hint (that Jeri still didn't pick up on) that perhaps Jeri should stay behind and help Takato's parents to make Takato better.

Jeri and agreed, and so, she and Elecmon were now staying at the Matsuki residence during the daylight hours, while everyone else left for Okinawa.

"Sorry you had to miss your holiday," said Takato, sniffing in an attempt to clear his heavily blocked nose.

"It's alright," said Jeri. "I've been to Okinawa before so it's not like I'll be seeing anything I haven't seen before."

"Yeah," said Takato. "But Henry said he was going to help teach you guys how to SCUBA dive. And that sounds really cool. I wanted to try it and I'm sure you did too."

"Well," said Jeri, a blush furiously staining her cheeks. "Your well-being is more important than learning how to dive and stare at fish. I can learn how to dive another time."

"It's a shame they don't make any SCUBA devices for Digimon," said Guilmon, from where he was sitting innocently at the foot of Takato's bed. If a Divermon ever comes through to this world, perhaps we can borrow his air tank and try it out.

"I'm not sure the Divermon would be entirely happy about that," chuckled Elecmon dryly.

Jeri couldn't help but blush a little bit more as she spoon-fed Takato some of his medicine. Both Takato's parents had their hands full running the bakery downstairs, so Jeri's new job shared the opening and closing hours that the bakery did. If Jeri spotted the blush also on Takato'ss face, she made no comment about it.

Guilmon and Elecmon watched with interest as the two of them chatted to each other. Even Elecmon had become extremely exasperated by how the two of them seemed to dance around the fact that they were obviously crushing on each other, and had fully engaged with the others in an attempt to open their eyes a little bit.

So far, nothing had worked. Guilmon and Elecmon glanced at one another as Jeri read Takato a flaming _bedtime story_ of all things. (It was one that Takato had got for Guilmon some time ago.) Both had spoken with Terriermon, Impmon and Renamon before the others left for their holiday and they had all agreed that if the two of them hadn't got together by the time the others got back, they would initiate the ultimate plan.

Suddenly Guilmon growled and tensed, every muscle in his body quivering. Nobody needed the beeping D-Arcs to instantly guess what was happening. Another Digimon was about to appear and wherever it was, it was pretty close.

"Oh great," muttered Takato. "When everyone else is out of town too. Why did it have to be now?"

Jeri rushed to the window and looked outside, seeing if she could spot any sign on the Digimon that was about to encroach on the Human World. It took a few seconds before she saw something, but then she did indeed see the pale blue column of light erupting from the ground in the middle of the park, followed by the cloud of fog that indicated a Digital Field.

Well, at least it wasn't in the streets. Yet.

Jeri balked as the field continued to expand, until it grew to an absolutely massive size. When it finally stopped growing it loomed at least three times as tall as the trees that surrounded it. Then, it began to fade away as the transition from the Digital to the Human World completed.

The Digimon that could be seen from the mist, even from Takato's bedroom, was enormous. It was definitely a Dinosaur Digimon, resembling an enormous orange Diplodocus. But, unlike an ordinary Dinosaur, it was encased in armour. It had bronze guards on all four limbs, and a huge bronze armour covering its chest. Metal stretched up the top of its neck and tail and its head had an enormous metallic helmet set on it. To cap off the appearance, a small cannon protruded from his chest and three enormous ones pointed upwards from his back.

Jeri opened the window as the Digimon roared and scanned it with the D-Arc. "Cannondramon," she read aloud. Cyborg Digimon. Data Type. Mega level. His attacks are Dynamo Cannon and Grenade Storm."

"That," said Takato, weakly sitting up, "does not sound good. Those attacks make it sound like the dinosaur version of MegaGargomon. He could wipe out the entire city quite easily if he wanted."

"Takato," Jeri fretted. "You're weak and ill. You need to stay in bed."

"I can't rest now," grimaced Takato, his skin extremely pale. "It's my duty as a Tamer to help defend this city in an way I can, regardless of how exhausting or draining it's going to be. I need to get out there and stop Cannondramon, before too many people get hurt."

Jeri bit her lip in anxiety but she nodded her head and stood aside, clearing a path to the window. Takato stood, unsteadily, and immediately was struck with a headrush. Shaking it off, he hobbled to the windowsill and clambered unsteadily onto the windowsill. Takato saw that Cannondramon was making his way towards the city, flattening trees as he went.

"Come on, Guilmon," said Takato.

Guilmon snapped out of his growling state and nodded, running forward and tackling Takato as he said, "Biomerge Activate!"

The two digivolved together in mid-air as quickly as they could. **"GUILMON BIOMERGE TO... GALLANTMON!"** Jeri and Elecmon watched as the Royal Knight swept through the air towards the sauropod Digimon.

* * *

Cannondramon was confused and angry at finding himself in this strange place with all the little creatures that scurried all over the place to avoid his feet and screamed at the top of their lungs as they did so. The sound irritated him and he ploughed towards the big buildings ahead, looking for a fairly powerful opponent that he could destroy and load their data. He didn't bother with the humans. They weren't worth the effort.

Cannondramon blinked as Gallantmon soared to a stop in front of his armoured face. "That's far enough," said the Digimon in two voices, one of which sounded strong and the other weak and trying to sound strong. "You will not be destroying anything here today as long as I have something to say about it."

Cannondramon growled and, as with most wild Digimon in the Digital World, he attacked blindly. "Nobody tells me what to do!" he roared, as he stampeded forward, swinging his head like an enormous mace. Gallantmon dodged to blow, but it was a rather close thing and Cannondramon displayed surprising agility for something so large and turned around, bringing his long tail surging towards the Royal Knight. Gallantmon's eyes widened as the enormous tail whooshed in his direction, and he quickly rose over the top of it, but the tail still managed to clip his leg and send him spinning.

Gallantmon grimaced beneath the helm. He wasn't nearly as fast on his feet as he usually once and Takato was quite literally struggling to fight. His tired and feverish state kept asking him to lie down for a bit and get some rest.

Gallantmon was caught completely unawares as the tail surged back in the other direction and slammed into his back, sending him spinning again and crashing into the ground. Wincing, he climbed to his feet, just in time to avoid getting squashed by an enormous sauropod foot. Gallantmon leapt into the sky again and managed to dodge the follow-up swing of Cannondramon's huge head.

However, he failed to dodge the tree that the swing uprooted and sent flying and the tree knocked him back a little bit.

"Takato," said Guilmon from within the Mega Knight. "Are you sure you're okay? I can feel that you're really tired?"

"There's no time for that kind of talk, Guilmon," said Takato. "We have to finish this up and quickly, otherwise we're not going to be able to win this fight. Let's give him a full power attack."

"Right," Guilmon agreed. And together they shouted, **"SHIELD OF THE JUST!"**

Raising Aegis, they unleashed the enormous red beam from the centre. Only, it wasn't quite as powerful as it normally was, due to Takato's severely weakened state. Cannondramon saw it coming and braced himself. The attack struck the armour on his chest with high force, but all it elicited was a slight grunt from Cannondramon. While his armour wasn't Chrome-Digizoid, it was still very tough, and he survived the attack with only a slight dent.

"Nice attack," said Cannondramon. "Now try one of mine. **GRENADE STORM!"**

Like MegaGargomon's Mega Barrage, numerous panels opened across the sauropod's armour and unleashed what could indeed be referred to as a storm of grenades right at Gallantmon, whistling towards the Knight at speed. At the same time, the smaller cannon on his chest glowed inside the barrel and unleashed a huge orange laser in Gallantmon's direction.

Gallantmon raised his shield, but his strength waned rapidly as he was peppered by the exploding grenades that warmed all around him. Several doubled back on themselves and struck him in the back, forcing him to drop his guard and leaving him wide open to the laser which slammed into his stomach and sent him flying backwards, slamming into the ground several hundred yards away from Cannondramon.

There, he split into Guilmon and Takato. Normally it would have taken much, much more than that to take them down, but Takato had been on the brink of collapse as it was before merging.

* * *

"Oh no!" Jeri gasped in horror as she watched Gallantmon, who looked extremely small from this distance and absolutely tiny compared to Cannondramon get slammed by the enormous laser that exploded from Cannondramon's chest. The sauropod Digimon was trashing the park, uprooting trees and sending them flying whenever he moved. And Jeri was a helpless observer as she saw Gallantmon get blasted to the ground.

She didn't see him getting back up again, but she did see Cannondramon baring down on something, so she could only assume that Gallantmon had de-digivolved. She bit her lip and turned away, unable to watch as Cannondramon approached her crush and the cute dinosaur she liked to play with.

She clenched her fist as her eyes filled with tears. This was just like the Ogudomon Debacle – she could only watch while her friends were beaten around by something bigger and she was powerless to help. Digivolving Elecmon to Leomon was going to do no good against that thing and she knew it.

"Jeri," said Elecmon, who was standing on the windowsill. "What are you doing? We have to help them. We can't just stay here."

"What can we do," Jeri sniffed, clutching her head in her hands. "I was right. I am the weakest of the Tamers. I'm a failure. I couldn't protect you when you needed my help and now I can't protect Takato and he's going to die and he's never going to come back."

Elecmon growled. "That is not the way of the lioness, Jeri," he said. "A lioness does not give up unless they know for sure that there is nothing they can do. A lioness hunts prey all the time, but they don't always get their kill. But do they simply give up and go hungry. No, they try again. And they keep going until they succeed so that the whole pride will benefit. You are the lioness and the Tamers are the pride. You must help."

"But I can't even biomerge," Jeri said tearfully.

"You've completely forgotten what Henry said," Elecmon chastised her. "Biomerging can only take place under the right circumstances. I'd say this qualifies, wouldn't you. Unless we do something and do it now, Takato and Guilmon are going to die. Are you willing to let that happen?"

"No, but..."

"Then swallow your self-deprecation, pick yourself up and do your part for the pride," Elecmon said, firmly.

"I..." Jeri stammered, but then glanced at Cannondramon in the distance and nodded, her brown eyes hardening. "Alright. Let's do it."

Elecmon nodded and Jeri ran to the window. Both of them looked out at the giant dinosaur Digimon ahead.

_This may be the stupidest thing I've ever done,_ thought Jeri and she suddenly sprang from the window, with Elecmon right underneath her. Pressing her D-Arc to her chest as she did so, she cried "BIOMERGE ACTIVATE!"

It worked.

"**ELECMON BIOMERGE TO... SABERLEOMON!"**

* * *

Guilmon hauled his nearly unconscious Tamer out of the way, just in time to avoid getting mashed underneath the foot of Cannondramon. "Hold still," the sauropod roared in frustration, as he lifted the other foot and attempted to mash them again.

Guilmon dragged his charge out of the way again and once again narrowly missed being squashed. But now he was trapped between the two front legs, one of which was already lifting up to squash him, and Takato wasn't getting any lighter.

"Game over," Cannondramon crowed, and brought his foot down. Guilmon covered his head and shut his eyes, waiting for the crushing weight from above. Instead, he was struck in the side and scooped upwards by something moving very fast. He heard a thud as Cannondramon's foot hit the floor where he had been standing. But when Guilmon opened his eyes, he was already at the edge of the park, and he was being held in the jaws of an enormous saber-toothed lion, with yellow fure flecked with red, a massive mane and two front teeth that were about as long as mammoth tusks. How the cat managed to get Guilmon and Takato in its jaws behind those teeth escaped him.

"This should be far enough," said the lion, in the duel voice that any biomerged Digimon has. Guilmon had already guessed that it was Jeri and Elecmon, but the voice confirmed it. The lion placed Guilmon and Takato on the ground.

"Wow," he said. "You guys got big."

"Thank you," said SaberLeomon. "But we don't really have time to chat. Look after your Tamer, Guilmon. We'll go and take care of that sorry excuse for a Brontosaurus." And with that, SaberLeomon hared off back into the park at blinding speed. Guilmon blinked at how fast they were. They were nowhere near as fast as Rapidmon could be, but they were still a yellow and red blur when they moved.

* * *

Cannondramon was still trying to figure out where his quarry had gone. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" he cried. "So I can squash you like a Tentomon."

"Care to repeat that?" asked a double voice. Cannondramon's armoured head swung around to face SaberLeomon, who had appeared as if by magic, standing with its front paws on a fallen tree and looking as regal as any male lion ever could, the wind blowing in its mane.

"And who are you?" Cannondramon asked, turning to face his new opponent.

"The name's SaberLeomon," said the Mega lion. "And I'm afraid you are trespassing on our turf."

"Your turf?" snorted Cannondramon. "I'm pretty sure that this place doesn't belong to anyone. But you appear to be a Mega, so you must have lots of strong data for me to absorb." He lowered his head and charged, aiming to slam his armoured head into SaberLeomon in a furious headbutt.

SaberLeomon grinned. "This will not take long," it said. And then it too charged forward to meet Cannondramon. As it ran, the hairs of its mane stood out and seemed to harden and SaberLeomon grinned as it announced its first attack. **"TWIN FANG!"**

Knowing that the attack would be useless if it struck the metal on Cannondramon's head, SaberLeomon rolled aside to avoid a collision at the last possible second and leapt, ploughing straight into the unarmoured underside of Cannondramon's neck. Cannondramon grunted in pain as he felt the hairs of the mane prick his skin, but no real damage seemed to have been done.

SaberLeomon was now clinging onto Cannondramon's neck with its paws and hanging on grimly. Cannondramon was unable to strike at SaberLeomon in the position where it was hanging and so it flailed around like a Bucking Bronco and swinging his neck wildly in an attempt to dislodge its unwanted passenger.

As he did, he became aware of the fact that he was slowing down. His movements were becoming sluggish and he was feeling remarkably stiff all of a sudden. He gritted his teeth and continued flailing but the problem just got worse and worse. Eventually, he stopped flailing and stood, panting in exertion and unable to move an inch.

SaberLeomon hopped off and regarded Cannondramon with amusement. "My Twin Fang attack allows me to inject a paralyzing venom from my mane that, if it pierces the skin, will leave you completely paralyzed before too long. And all your flailing about helped it spread through your system much faster. Thanks."

Cannondramon growled. "It's not over yet," he said, and suddenly the huge cannons on his back rotated and lowered until the barrels were all pointing directly as SaberLeomon, at point blank range. "Goodbye," he said. **"DYNAMO CANNON!"**

SaberLeomon watched as the cannons glowed the same orange as the chest cannon had, only much, much bigger. At the last second, it suddenly streaked away as incredible speed, meaning Cannondramon's attack slammed into the ground where it had been. This had the unforeseen (at least on Cannondramon's part) side-effect of making the ground shake and the recoil of such a close range shot target at such massive firepower literally threw Cannondramon to one side. The sauropod landed painfully on his side, still unable to move.

SaberLeomon reappered. "Well," it said. "It's been fun, but you're late for an appointment with Anubimon so you better run along now. **HOWLING CRUSHER!"**

Leaping high and plunging towards Cannondramon, with an outstretched paw glowing a bright white, SaberLeomon slammed its paw into Cannondramon's chest armour, creating an enormous rent in the metal. Cannodramon grunted in pain, and SaberLeomon attacked again and again, hitting the same spot each time. It took three goes to get through the thick armour, but on the fourth attack, the already weakened Cannondramon splintered into data due to being hit in such a vulnerable area as the chest.

SaberLeomon watched as the data particles floated away into the sky.

"Do you still believe you don't have a lion's heart, Jeri?" asked Elecmon.

"Nah," said Jeri. "It was buried a little deep, but it was there all along. I just had to find it."

"I did tell you," chuckled Elecmon. "Now, come on. We should get Takato back to bed quickly."

* * *

The week passed and eventually, the others returned. Upon hearing that Jeri had successfully managed to biomerge with Elecmon, most of the other Tamers were extremely congratulatory to both. Kenta, on the other hand, sulked and muttered about "missing his chance" and Kazu insisted in taking the rip of him.

Jeri beamed at all the praise she was receiving. She now felt like she was a true Tamer. Gone were the days of her being a feeble wreck. She was a defender of the world. She had a lion's heart.

She didn't notice several of the Digimon having a whispered conference not very far away.

A couple of days after that, and Jeri was walking through the park, passed the trees that her opponent had trashed and had yet to be cleared. Elecmon was leading the way and the two of them mostly walked in silence.

Eventually, Jeri said, "Are you sure that you don't know why we're supposed to go to Guilmon's hideout?"

"I'm just as much in the dark as you are, Jeri," said Elecmon. "Renamon just said that she had a surprise, but I don't have the slightest clue as to what she was talking about."

Jeri sighed. She wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Renamon anymore, because while she was still the serious warrior she had always been, her mating with Terriermon seemed to be bringing out more mischievous tendencies in her. But she still usually stopped him from pulling over-the-top pranks, so whatever was going on, it couldn't be too bad... right?

She reached Guilmon's old hideout, which, despite all odds, was still standing and she and Elecmon walked inside. True to her word, Renamon was waiting inside. But, to Jeri's surprise, so was Takato, who had healed a few days ago, and Guilmon.

"Hi," said Jeri, shyly. She was almost always shy around Takato, but when acting as his nurse, her motherly instincts had mostly overridden that shyness. "What are you doing here?"

"Guilmon said Renamon has a surprise for us," said Takato. "What are you doing here?"

"The same thing," said Jeri, turning to frown at Renamon. "What's all this about?"

"Oh, it's quite simple really," said Renamon, a smile on her face that seemed ever so slightly feral. "You see, over the last few months, all of us, even Ai and Mako and Calumon, have noticed one thing that you to seem to have failed to pick up on. And many of us have grown so exasperated by this, that we have decided to act."

"What are you talking about?" asked Takato.

"Takato, were you aware of the fact that Jeri fancies you?" Renamon stated, without any hint of a joke in her voice.

Jeri flushed scarlet, as did Takato. "Renamon! What are you doing?" squealed Jeri, while Takato stammered incoherently.

"Jeri, were you aware of the fact that Takato fancies you too?" Renamon stated. The blushes on both cheeks seemed to, if anything, intensify, so much so that each one of them put tomato ketchup to shame.

"But..." Takato stammered.

"I..." Jeri agreed.

"Even now, you seem somehow unwilling to accept this," said Renamon. "But we know how to fix that, don't we boys," Renamon turned to Guilmon and Elecmon, who both seemed to be grinning evilly.

"Get 'em!" yelled Guilmon, and he and Renamon each grabbed one of the two and, before they realised what was happening, Guilmon had pushed Takato against the wall and dodged aside, to allow Renamon to push Jeri right up against him, face to face. The two continued blushing and stammering in protest, unsure of what was really happening.

And that was when Terriermon entered that shed, with Impmon and Lopmon in tow. Between them, Impmon and Lopmon were carrying a cushion and on that cushion was a gun, being borne between them like a ceremonial device.

Jeri and Takato's eyes both widened as they saw it. "What the hell is going on?" Takato cried.

"Oh relax," said Terriermon, picking up the pistol in both hands and priming it. "We're not going to shoot you. Well, not with bullets anyway."

"What-" Jeri started to ask, but suddenly Renamon released her grip and rolled aside. Terriermon pulled the trigger at the exact same moment, probably co-ordinated using their telepathy. A glob of clear liquid shot from the gun and plastered Jeri's back, spreading rapidly until Takato and Jeri both had it covering their upper-bodies.

Then it dried.

Rapidly.

Jeri tugged, but found that she couldn't move a step backwards at all. Takato was similarly stuck. Now, they were pinned to one another, face to face.

"Gallium electrolyte compound," said Terriermon, blowing the tip of the pistol theatrically. "We picked it up from Goro's place. It served as a great matchmaker for me and Rena, so why not with you two."

"Here's the plan," said Impmon. "We're going off to do whatever we like and leave you two to your own devices for one hour."

"All except me," said Lopmon, an uncharacteristic smirk on her face. "I'm going to keep watch here and listen in on what you have to say. If the two of you still haven't accepted you fancy each other and become boyfriend and girlfriend, I'll send a mental message to Terriermon."

"And I'll be somewhere near Kazu's house," said Terriermon. "And I'll have a camera with me. And I might just slip the fact that you are stuck here and accidentally leave my camera in Kazu's pocket."

"Guilmon," Takato complained. "Why are you doing this?"

"They are right," shrugged Guilmon. "It is really annoying and it is so obvious. We just want to get it over with really."

"Toodles," Impmon waved, as he, Terriermon, Renamon, Elecmon and Guilmon all departed. Lopmon gave a slightly sympathetic look to the two trapped Tamers.

"Normally I wouldn't go for this sort of thing," she said. "But I agree with Guilmon. You're beating around the bush has gotten very irritating. I'll be outside and rest assured I can hear every word."

She left.

Takato and Jeri glanced at each other and blushed. Both of them were hating Terriermon right about now, along with most of the others, for putting them in this predicament. They had no doubt it was Terriermon or Impmon's idea.

But, at the end of the hour, when they finally decided to become boyfriend and girlfriend and shared their first (voluntary) kiss, the two of them had changed their minds and thanked the Digimon when they returned and Guilmon used his claws to cut them loose.

* * *

Again, sorry for the delay everyone, but I fully intended to try and get this as right as I possibly could. I intend to hurry up with the second half of the Shili Arc now that I've done this to the best of my ability.

Hope you enjoyed that Geekgirl.

Fergus Flamacron, signing off.


	8. Twoshot Part 1  Dooku's Test

This is not technically an Every Fifty because this was not written for somebody because they were a reviewer who reviewed on a certain number. However, it _is_ a request from one of my most eternally loyal readers, **Forcystus5**. It isn't even a oneshot – it's a twoshot, and it slots in to the story of the _Secret of the 327__th_ just after the Kashyyyk Arc where Barriss and Chewbacca join the group, but also just before the Zillo Beast Arc. Don't get any ideas from this. I am still not doing requests on a regular basis. However, **Forcystus5** seemed to put his soul into the research for the idea, doing all the work for me. He was very thorough and since he spent over two hours trying to get the details right I could hardly refuse, since I haven't done a request for so long.

There are a couple of altercations though, and I am sure my loyal reviewer who requested this will pick up on those altercations as he reads it. However, it is mostly exactly as you requested. So, here is the first instalment. Hope you enjoy it, as I put a lot of effort into it.

* * *

**Every Fifty**

**Twoshot 1 – Part 1:- Dooku's Test**

**Rating:- T**

**Worlds:- Digimon Tamers, Star Wars: The Clone Wars**

* * *

Within the halls of his palace on the planet Serenno, Count Dooku was taking up his usual pose of standing before the giant window set in the wall behind his desk, with his arms clasped behind his back and gazing out at the palace grounds outside and the surrounding forest. This was the position he often took when he had things to think about, as he felt it allowed him to focus more on what was on his mind. And right now, he had a lot on his mind.

The Separatists were slowly losing and he knew it. Despite the best efforts of himself and his Master, Darth Sidious, they were slowly being eliminated from the Galaxy, one world at a time. And it seemed that every time they gained a foothold on another planet, it would be wiped from the map once again almost immediately. Something had to be done if they wanted to get back on track, and it had to be fast.

It was mostly due to that blasted A-Team. And Dooku had only just heard that they had gained another member. He knew little of Barriss Offee as a Jedi. But what he did know was that she was a skilled healer, one of the best in the order. Combine that with the combat skills of the others, and presumably the combat skills of Barriss herself, and the A-Team and their comrades might become more dangerous than ever.

It would be better if the A-Team were eliminated. Not Skywalker, of course, as his Master had plans for him, but the others were inconsequential to the desires of the Sith. It would be perfectly alright to kill them.

The only problem was how to go about it.

But right now, the Count also had something else on his mind. Recently, the base of his closest followers – the Dark Acolytes – had been attacked by one of the members of the A-Team, Aayla Secura. Somehow, she had managed to convert her old Master, Quinlan Vos, back to the side of the light and the two of them had managed to not only hold off, but kill all of the remaining Acolytes except one. Asajj Ventress was the only one still alive, and while she was one of the deadliest, several of the others had been extremely useful to Dooku as well. Tol Skorr and Sora Bulq had been very valuable assets, as had Vos himself. But now, they were either dead or out of his grasp.

That had been a catastrophic day for him. Without the majority of his leaders, the Republic had suddenly started pushing them back faster than ever. Plus, now he got to listen to how painfully Asajj Ventress was going to kill Secura whenever she got the chance every time she came to give a report.

However, all was not yet lost for Dooku and he knew it. His senses prickled slightly as he felt two familiar figures approaching him. The sound of the elevator door opening occurred behind him and two sets of footsteps crossed the hall towards him.

Dooku turned around as they approached, an imperious look on his face designed to intimidate them. Indeed, the two new figures dropped to one knee and bowed low, avoiding eye contact with the Count. Dooku nodded with satisfaction and said, "So, you made it on time. That is your first point already. Congratulations. Now, rise."

The two people did just that, allowing the Count to see their faces. One of them was a male Kiffar, the same species as Quinlan Vos himself, though he was not quite as heavily built as the Jedi Master. However, he had the same expression of determination and similar dreadlocked hair, though not quite as long as Quinlan's either. His name was Arkantos. He had used to be a Jedi Knight, but he had left the Order almost a year ago after he refused to fight in the Clone Wars. The reason for this refusal was that he had been overwhelmed with grief after the first battle of Geonosis, which both he and his Padawan learner had fought in. He had survived. His Padawan had not.

Arkantos had gone off the map shortly after the battle, and had not had any contact with the Jedi Order since then. But, one day, a few days after the destruction of most of his Acolytes, Dooku had found Arkantos hiding out on the world of Bestine. Arkantos had been very wary of Dooku at first, but Dooku had sensed that the Kiffar was still consumed with grief at his loss. As a master of words, it had not been difficult for Dooku to hook Arkantos in and lure him down the path of the Dark Side. Now, Arkantos blamed the Order for allowing his Padawan to fight when he was not ready, and Dooku had promised that the war would be over as soon as they wiped out the Order.

Arkantos was determined to do that. Perhaps not as determined as Grievous, but still he had a huge amount of anger directed at the Order. Just the way Dooku liked it.

The second figure was a female Vahla. Dooku had not stumbled across her by chance as he had with Arkantos. A few days after he had converted the Kiffar, he had visited her homeworld, Vahl, with the express intention of finding a new potential Acolyte. The Vahla were, as a species, all in-tune with the Force to some degree. But you wouldn't find any Jedi Vahla as they were all naturally steeped in the Dark Side. They had even formed their own cult dedicated to it, known as the Ember of Vahl. Dooku had gone to visit this cult, and had chosen this particular Vahla, whose name was Sanaki, because he had sensed that she was one of the strongest in the Dark Side there.

And so, Sanaki had accompanied Dooku off her planet, all set to become an apprentice of his, and began training her, along with Arkantos, in more Dark Side powers, pointing her in the direction of the Jedi and calling them abominations that must be eliminated. Now, Sanaki was as consumed with hate as her Kiffar partner. She had _not_ gotten along with Asajj Ventress when the two of them had met, but Sanaki had stood down, conceding Ventress as her superior when Ventress had pulled out her lightsabers, a possession which Sanaki had not had at the time.

Now, that was no longer the case.

"I see that your missions were a success then," Dooku observed. "Show me the results."

Wordlessly, Arkantos and Sanaki lowered their hands to their waists and pulled a lightsaber hilt from their belts each. A couple of ignitions later and Dooku found himself staring at a pair of red lightsaber blades. The two of them had just been on a covert mission to obtain the crystals required to power the lightsabers and it seemed that they had been one-hundred percent successful.

But, of course, Dooku immediately decided to test that fact.

"Good," he said, and without warning he let off a burst of Force-lightning right as Sanaki. The Vahla yelped and instinctively swung up her blade, which intercepted the lightning burst and absorbed it, though the force of the blast still pushed Sanaki backwards.

"Excellent," Dooku nodded, walking over to the pair. "You appear to have done well, Sanaki. That blade will be of good use to us when we use it to take down the Jedi Order. But what of you, Arkantos?" Dooku's lightsaber hilt was suddenly in his hand and before Arkantos could blink, the blade had ignited and had lunged for him. The Kiffar only just managed to block the swift strike, and he stepped back, parrying two more equally swift blows before he backed out of range.

Dooku nodded and sheathed his blade. "Another fine job," he nodded. "Your Ataru is coming along well. I assume now that you have real lightsabers to use, there will be more dead Jedi soon enough."

The two of them did not complain at the rough treatment that Dooku was giving them. Both of them knew full well that this was how the Sith worked, mercilessly training future subordinates to weed out the weaker members. If you wanted to be a Dark Jedi, you had to be on your toes at all times. It helped to invoke their anger and attune their senses. Neither of them liked it, but they bore it.

Dooku strode back behind his desk and then turned back to stare over it at the two of them. He waited for the two of them to speak, and eventually Arkantos did so. "Does this make us Dark Acolytes now that we have out lightsabers?"

"No," Dooku shook his head. "You may have had basic training in the ways of the Dark Side, and you may have had considerable practice with lightsaber blades, but nobody can be called a Dark Acolyte unless they have proven themselves."

"Proven ourselves?" Sanaki asked indignantly. "Have we not done so already many times over? We have excelled at lightsaber training. We have been practicing in the forms of the Dark Side for some time. How does that mean we are not ready to be Dark Acolytes like Ventress?"

"Your anger is admirable, Sanaki," Dooku replied. "However, I must ask you to curb it for the time being and listen closely. You may have shown skill on the training ground but as of yet, I have no proof that you will do as well in the field. Therefore, I will set you a test. I will send you on a mission to complete one important objective that will benefit our cause. I will judge you on your performance and on the eventual result."

"And then?" Sanaki pressed. "Then will we be Dark Acolytes."

"Only if I see fit," Dooku replied. "My word is the final one, after all. However, if I am sufficiently impressed with how well you do then you will indeed become Dark Acolytes. And I will not deny that I need more after I lost the majority on Boz Pity."

"If that is the case, my lord," Arkantos bowed low again. "Then just give us our objective and we will set out immediately. The sooner I become a Dark Acolyte, the better."

"Patience," Dooku cautioned him. "My only Dark Acolyte left, Asajj Ventress, is sadly lacking in that virtue. I would prefer it if my future underlings did possess it."

"Yes, my lord," Arkantos nodded. "What is the mission?"

Dooku didn't reply for a moment, and then strode back over to the window, closing his eyes as if meditating. Sanaki and Arkantos waited quietly, trying to stop themselves from asking again. Dooku always did things at his own pace, and they were going to have to deal with that in the future if they wished to be Dark Acolytes.

Besides, it was entirely possible that he hadn't made up his mind as to what he wanted them to do yet as well.

Eventually, Dooku said, "You are, of course, aware of the current state of affairs regarding this war. We are losing – I will freely admit to that. I still believe we may pull back into this once I obtain more underlings. However, most of our losses can be attributed to the presence of the so-called A-Team. I take it you know of them?"

"Of course, my lord," Arkantos nodded.

"Who doesn't?" Sanaki muttered dryly.

"Indeed," Dooku nodded. "Their constant successes against my forces have made them a figurehead for the Republic - a group of Jedi that inspire hope and confidence in the people. In many places they are almost considered to be invincible. However, that is not the case. They are just ordinary Jedi who happen to have great skill and some of the best fighting clones at their backs." He turned back around and a smirk crossed his face. "Imagine just what the Republic would feel were one of their number to fall."

Arkantos smirked. "It would shatter a majority of their morale."

"Yes," nodded Dooku. "That is the problem with figureheads. People follow them around like lost eopies and when they fall, hope falls with them."

"You want us to go up against them?" asked Sanaki.

"No," Dooku shook his head. "I believe that Skywalker and Secura will be out of your league when it comes to lightsaber combat. Both of them excel at it and have done since they were young, whereas the two of you are either new or haven't used proper lightsabers for a while. You are skilled, but I believe you need more time before you are a match for either of them.

"However," Dooku went on. "The A-Team recently gained a new member to their forces in the form of recently Knighted Barriss Offee. Offee is a Healer, not a Guardian as the other two are. I have no doubt that she is skilled with a lightsaber, but it is doubtful that she is as good as the other two."

"You want us to take her out?" Sanaki chuckled, a sinister grin appearing on her face.

"Indeed," nodded Dooku. "However, that is only part of your mission. Offee has only just joined the group. While her elimination will be useful and will prevent her from aiding them in future, her reputation amongst the Republic is nowhere near the size of the other three and will not have the impact I desire. For that to occur, I wish for you to take out both her and the youngest member of the team – Ahsoka Tano. She is skilled with a blade as well, but she still has much to learn. Surely you are a match for her."

Arkantos smirked. "She will not stand a chance against us."

"Then you have your mission," Dooku nodded. "Eliminate Tano and Offee."

"But how will we do that?" Sanaki queried. "How are we supposed to separate them from Skywalker and Secura? You said you didn't think we could take them on?"

"If I gave you a detailed outline of what I wanted you to do then it would only be partial test," Dooku scoffed. "You must be the one to come up with the plan as a test of your ingenuity and use of strategy. But you must come up with a way to ensure that Skywalker and Secura do _not_ become involved. One of the key elements of being a Dark Acolyte is to ensure that the enemy comes to you on your terms. The only thing I will tell you is that you may use any means necessary to complete your mission, but Offee and Tano must perish by your hand."

"Yes, my lord," Arkantos and Sanaki bowed again.

"Good," nodded Dooku. "That is all. Do not report back to me until you have completed your mission. And if you fail..." he glowered at them, his brow furrowing into an expression that indicated that he was deadly serious. "Woe betide either of you if I set eyes on you again."

The two of them bowed lower and then turned around to leave. Dooku watched them go for a moment, before he turned back to the window before they'd even gotten into the elevator. He was taking a gamble here and he knew it. Skywalker and Secura had shown ingenuity in the field beyond any other Jedi that he knew of. Those two were going to need to come up with something good to get by them.

But, then again, if they wanted to become Acolytes, he would more than likely need minions who could go up against them eventually. Putting them to the test early on might be the best option.

* * *

As they left the palace and got back into the shuttle which they had arrived in, Sanaki turned to her fellow Acolyte-in-training. "I can't help but feel that we've been handed the short straw here," she said. "The A-Team will not be easy to get by. That Tano girl might be a Padawan but there must be a reason she gained a reputation as big as she did. We can't afford to take her lightly."

"She ought not to be a problem," Arkantos shrugged, grunting. "I know about Skywalker – I was in the order for when he, Secura and Offee were training as Padawans. Never knew them personally mind you, but everyone knew that Anakin was an arrogant boy at the best of times while he was undergoing his training. This A-Team stuff will have gone to his head, and since Tano is his Padawan, she will probably be the same way. Her overconfidence will be her downfall."

"That doesn't mean we should get overconfident ourselves," Sanaki pointed out.

"No, you're right," nodded Arkantos. "But we'll worry about that when the time comes. For now, we have to think more on how we're going to lure her and Offee into a trap while ensuring that the other two members of their team stay away. That is not going to be easy."

Sanaki nodded. "I bet the other Dark Acolytes had easier assignments," she muttered. "They can't have been as good as everyone claims if they were killed off by only two Jedi against all of them. Maybe Dooku thinks we're better suited than they are, which is why he upped the difficulty."

"Could be," agreed the Kiffar. "In that case, let's not disappoint him. First we need to think of a lure. Something to grab their attention, maybe make them rush in without thinking. We can take their haste and use it against them if we do that?"

"But how?" Sanaki asked. "How do we go about that?"

"Oh, it's quite simple," Arkantos replied, a glower appearing on his face. "We just need to find out who they are particularly close to. The Jedi might claim to hold no attachments, but they can never really get rid of them. I know that for a fact." His fist tightened as memories of his young Padawan dying before his eyes appeared at the fore of his mind. He mentally cursed the Jedi for letting a young Padawan into such danger.

Skywalker was going to feel the same pain! He was thrusting his own Padawan into danger all the time. Now he would understand Arkantos' pain. He would understand how the Jedi Order threw children out onto the front lines just because it suited them. He would have the same epiphany that Arkantos had several months before.

Sanaki had no such feelings on this matter. Despite their cult to the Dark Side, Vahla were not a particularly close-knit species. They did not trust easily, and they rarely made friends with one another. In fact, the only people that Sanaki could ever claim to be close to, even now that she had become a Dark Jedi and met several other people, was her parents. The bond between them was the strongest bond that Sanaki knew.

Which is why she automatically suggested, "Well, do either of them have any family?"

Arkantos snorted. "Even if they did they probably wouldn't be close to them. I have no memory of my family. The Jedi Order makes routine surveys during their times of peace, scouting out the Galaxy for Force-sensitive children to become Jedi, which they take away from their parents at a young age so that they don't form any attachment to their parents. A Jedi that comes to the Order via another method is a rarity." He paused and frowned. "Oddly enough, Skywalker and Secura are both among those rarities."

"Then perhaps Tano or Offee are, as well," pointed out Sanaki. "It wouldn't hurt to check."

Arkantos mused. "You're right. Let's bring up the files. We should learn everything we can about the two of them anyway if we want to do a thorough job."

"Agreed," Sanaki said. They crossed over to the controls and began looking through the database on the Jedi. Every transport owned by a Dark Jedi contained access to this database, so that they could be prepared no matter which Jedi they came across in the field. It had been one of the reasons why the Dark Side had been doing so well before the A-Team appeared, despite their limited numbers.

After around half an hour of scanning, Arkantos shook his head. "It seems that Offee was one of the Jedi who joined the Order under the normal circumstances. Her family is unlisted." He turned to his partner. "You got anything on Tano."

"Hang on," the Vahla murmured, scanning through the Aurebesh text before her. "Here's something. It says here that Tano was brought to the Temple at the age of four after being discovered by Jedi Council Member Plo Koon in a remote tribe on the planet Shili. It also says here in her mission records that she recently met up with that same tribe on a mission to destroy a Separatist laboratory on that planet."

Arkantos grinned sinisterly. "You don't say," he chuckled. "Well, if that is the case, then there's a possibility that she met up with any family she has there." He chuckled. "Excellent. We can check it out. If she has family there, then that will be our lure."

"That still doesn't solve how we're going to get Skywalker and Secura to stay away while we complete our mission," Sanaki pointed out. "I heard that they do almost everything together."

"We'll plan that out in a moment. For now, how are we going to find out where her family is."

Sanaki thought for a second, and then said, "Dooku said that we can do any means necessary, didn't he?"

"Uh-huh," nodded the Kiffar.

"Then how about we get someone else to do that for us while we set up the trap," Sanaki sneered. "The quicker we get this done, the better."

"Who did you have in mind?" asked Arkantos.

Without answering, the Vahla reached up and keyed something into the holocommunicator set in front of them, then sat back to await the answer. She did not have long to wait. A hologram appeared before them – which depicted a tall, lanky near-human woman with freakishly long fingers, a huge beaded pony-tail coming out of the back of her head and what seemed to be a short antennae of some kind sticking up out of her skull.

"Ah," said Arkantos, chuckling. "I see."

"Good afternoon," the hologram folded her arms and looked at the two Dark Jedi contemptuously. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Is it not obvious, Aurra?" Sanaki responded with a smile. "We have a potential job offer and we thought that you might be interested. There's quite a large sum of money in it for you if you do it, of course. Interested?"

"Maybe," notorious Bounty Hunter, Aurra Sing, replied stiffly. "But first I'm going to need more details than that? What do want?"

"Well," Sanaki grinned. "My partner and I have just been given a little mission from Count Dooku. He wants us to eliminate a couple of young Jedi as a test to prove that we are adequate enough to become Dark Acolytes, and one of those is a young Togruta Padawan learner."

Aurra raised an eyebrow. "Would I be correct in assuming you are talking about that little brat who is a member of the A-Team and runs around foiling Separatist plots? I was wondering when the Separatists would try an assassination plot against them. You want me to put a blaster bolt in her head?"

"No," Arkantos shook his head. "We must be the ones to kill her, but we wouldn't mind a little assistance in luring her into a trap. There's a small tribe on the planet Shili which Tano used to be a part of. And we believe that she may have family there. What we want you to do is find that family and take them prisoner."

"Taking hostages will require more pay," Aurra said, warningly.

"Inconsequential," Sanaki waved a hand airily. "You'll get your money, as long as you are up to the task."

"Oh, I'm more than up to it," Aurra smirked. "Taking prisoners happens to be a speciality of mine. What are their names."

"Unknown," Sanaki shook her head. "You'll have to find a way of rooting them out."

"A challenge," Aurra sneered. "I like that. What kind of money can I expect?"

"You can name your price after you deliver the prisoners to us," Arkantos said. "Charge us whatever you see fit. Count Dooku will be more than happy to accommodate you."

"Excellent," Aurra nodded. "Alright then. This sounds like a mission I can handle. Where do you want me to deliver them to once I have acquired the target."

"Er," Arkantos faltered, realising that he had not planned that far ahead.

"We're not sure yet," Sanaki quickly intervened. "Just contact us when you have them and then we'll give you the location."

"Very well," Aurra nodded. "I'll leave for Shili immediately if you have no objections."

"By all means, go ahead," Arkantos nodded. "The sooner the better."

Aurra Sing nodded and her hologram vanished. The Vahla turned to the Kiffar and said, "Alright, now that we have the bait, or at least we will have soon enough, we need to come up with a foolproof plan."

"Agreed," Arkantos nodded and the two of them settled down to think, debating ideas back and forth. Eventually, they came up with something that they both considered to be absolutely flawless and it was difficult for both of them to suppress chuckles of delight. After calling Aurra once more and giving her a slight altercation to the plan, the two of them quickly left Serenno and, after programming their navicomputer, jumped to hyperspace.

* * *

The following day, and Aurra Sing slowly stepped up behind a tree, placing her long fingers against the trunk and peering around it and into a glade just in front of her. So far she had been on the planet Shili for almost a day and had so far had no success. She had found and visited four Togruta tribes so far, but unless she was very much mistaken, none of the members of any of them had a Jedi in the family.

Her analytical, cold eyes were now watching the fifth Togruta camp that she had come across in these mountains. The forests around her were too thick for her ship to land in, so she'd been trekking around so far and hoping for the best. She took the camp in quietly, identifying important looking members and camp-huts. She could see one of them was larger than the others and she'd come to understand that this was the leader's place.

This camp seemed to be no different from any of the others – lots of Togrutas wearing clothing made of animal hide, cooking, sleeping, talking and, in the case of the children, running around and screaming their heads off.

But then Aurra spotted something that she hadn't seen at the other campsites. One of the nearby screaming batches of children appeared to have a large portion of them running away from the one individual in particular, who was waving an imaginary sword and yelling, "Voom, voom, that's right run away. You are no match for my laser-sword, because I'm a Jedi. And nobody can beat me."

Aurra smirked. "That looks promising," she said, crouching further into the shadows as the kids ran past. Then, she stood up and boldly stepped out into the campsite as if she were expected.

Activity ceased as everyone watched the strange near-human walking almost arrogantly towards the main area filled with huts. The inhabitants stood up and looked uncertainly towards a tall Togruta near the largest hut, waiting for guidance. The man hefted a spear and stepped towards Aurra, who stopped and stared back at him, not flinching when he lowered the spear at her.

"Who are you?" the leader, whose name was Ilyan, said. "What are you doing here? We do not usually receive visits from off-worlders."

"Please, calm yourself," Aurra replied evenly, giving him a gracious half-bow. "I merely bring a message, and I want to ensure that it gets to the right people. Tell me, is there anyone in this village you is related to one Jedi Padawan known as Ahsoka Tano. I bear a message from her, and she told me that it was urgent."

There was silence for a few moments, as the Togrutas exchanged glances with one another. But Aurra suddenly felt someone tugging at her leggings and she looked down to see the small boy from before. She had to contain a smirk as he said, "You know Ahsoka? And she has a message for us?"

"Are you her younger brother?" Aurra asked.

"Yeah," nodded the boy.

"Elu!" cried a voice from the crowd, and Aurra looked up to see and man and a woman hurrying out of the crowd. Elu hurried over to them, and they both regarded the woman with some suspicion. Aurra held their gaze as the man addressed her:- "I am Catalin, and this is my mate Alina. Ahsoka is our daughter."

"You say you have an urgent message from her," Alina went on. "What is it? Is she in trouble?"

"No," Aurra smirked. "But you are." With one swift motion she suddenly had a pair of blaster pistols in her hand and pointed right at the family. "And my message is actually the other way round. I have a urgent message for her, and it will be from you. Now, don't move or I shoot the boy."

Elu yelped and cringed against his mother's legs. Alina knelt down and embraced him while Catalin's expression became a scowl. He reached behind him and Aurra was momentarily startled when he pulled out a large blaster. All the other Togruta encampments had only had spears and knives as their weapons. She risked a quick glance around her and saw many other locals had blasters trained on her. She was surrounded by them.

"I don't think so," Ilyan growled, focusing his own blaster on the intruder. "The members of my tribe are not bargaining tools. Now, surrender and we will take you prisoner. Resist and we will be forced to shoot you."

Aurra knew that she was outgunned and she slowly and deliberately holstered her pistols again, raising her hands in a gesture of surrender. But, just as one of the nearby Togrutas moved forward to grab her, Aurra suddenly charged towards the Togruta family. Catalin let off a shot at her, but before it reached her, Aurra had a new weapon in her hands. A red lightsaber sprung into action and she swung it up to catch the bolt. It ricocheted backwards and slammed into Catalin's shoulder, causing him to grasp and drop the blaster.

"Dad!" Elu cried, but suddenly Aurra had grabbed Alina and hoisted her upwards, holding the lightsaber close to her throat and hanging lekku. The other Togrutas primed their blasters, but she raised a long finger and wagged it warningly. "Ah, ah, ah," she smirked. "If you know about the Jedi then you must know what these weapons can do. And my point still stands." She suddenly released Alina and grabbed Elu, holding the blade against his neck this time. "Do what I say, or the boy dies."

Catalin stepped forward, but Aurra moved the blade closer to Elu's throat and he stopped. Mother and Father took only one look at the terrified face of their son before they relented. "Alright," Catalin said, stepping back and clutching his shoulder. "What do you want?"

"First things first," Aurra said. "Do you have a way of contacting your dear old daughter?"

"Yes," Catalin nodded tightly.

"Then go and get it," Aurra ordered him. "We'll be waiting right here."

"Please," Alina implored as Catalin turned around to carry out his instructions. "Why are you doing this?"

"Not really your business, woman," Aurra chuckled. "But, if you must know, I'm getting paid for this. If you really want to know why, I suggest you ask my employers... when you meet them."

Alina bit her lip and murmured. "Please, don't hurt my son."

"Do as I say and no harm will come to him," Aurra assured her.

Catalin returned quickly and tossed a holocommunicator at Aurra's feet. "There. Now what?"

Aurra bent down and picked up the communicator. Elu made no attempt to flee, his eyes fixed on the lightsaber blade held in front of him. Aurra placed the communicator on her belt and then fished a pair of binders from a hidden pouch and threw them to Alina and Catalin. "Secure yourselves with these. Hands behind the back. Then you're going to follow my directions into the forest."

As Alina and Catalin picked up the binders and did as they were ordered, Aurra turned to the others and announced. "And if I catch anyone trying to follow us, the boy gets it, understand?"

The Togrutas reluctantly put their blasters down, and Aurra turned to the now-secured parents of Ahsoka. "Now, get moving," she ordered, jerking her head over her shoulder. "That way."

* * *

A few hours later and it was mid-morning on Coruscant. Barriss Offee was still be inducted into the ranks of the A-Team, although it couldn't really be called that any more if they wanted to include her in it. They had decided to come up with an alternative name for the group sometime in the future.

The whole group was currently sitting in Aayla's quarters, which was apparently the main meeting place for all of them. Aayla had made a jocular comment that she remembered the good old days when she usually had the room all to herself. She had had to duck after Terriermon and Suzie had thrown some of their food at her in response.

Now, Barriss was wide-eyed in astonishment as she was informed of something that completely threw her off-kilter. "Seriously?" she looked at Anakin incredulously. "You went and got married!"

"Ssh," Anakin motioned to her. "Don't blurt it out to the whole Temple. We're trying to keep it a secret. So far that doesn't seem to be going that well. After all, everyone else in here found out."

"But if the Jedi Council found out..." Barriss fretted.

"Then they would probably expel him from the Order," Ahsoka finished. "We came to that conclusion too."

"That _possible_ conclusion, you mean," Aayla pointed out. "I still couldn't guess how some members of the Council would take it. I'm sure Obi-Wan would stand up for him, that is certain. But I think Master Yoda might let him off the hook as well. After all," she smirked. "We are allowed attachments in this little group. Yoda's blessing."

"That means that you can expect us to fully let you into all our hearts, Barriss," smiled Renamon. "Just like a member of the family. Whether you like it or not."

"And it would be nice if you did the same thing with us in return," Lopmon agreed. "Not only because we all work better that way, but because we are already a close group and we would hate for you to feel left out. You too, Chewbacca," she added up to the Wookiee in the corner who now supposedly owed her a life debt.

"And if you don't let us in, Barriss, you'll be in big trouble," Terriermon added, only half-threateningly. "You hear me?"

"Alright," chuckled Barriss. "No need to threaten me with outrageous pranks. I was aware of that fact when I signed on to work with you guys more in future anyway. My only real concern is that it might be difficult for me to adjust. Master Luminara holds the traditional Jedi views, and I guess you could say I do too as a result."

"Trust me, Barriss," chuckled Anakin. "It is _not_ hard. If you are anything like us, which you are, you won't even have to try."

"We'll worm our way into your heart like little ticks," Rika snickered.

"Technically ticks only stay on the skin and suck the blood from there," Henry pointed out. "If we were going with the parasite analogy a better one would be..."

"Oh, nobody cares, Brainiac," Rika shook her head.

"Can we not talk about parasites?" Suzie shuddered. "All I can think of is those Geonosian brain worm thingies."

"Yes, I quite agree," nodded Barriss. "That was a particularly nasty trip for me as well. Not least because one of them used my Master's own body to try and kill me."

"Sure thing, Barriss," nodded Lopmon. "So, you feel up to keeping Anakin's secrets from the rest of the order?"

"I'll try," Barriss nodded.

"No," Renamon folded her arms. "Do not try. Do, or do not. There is no try."

"Yes, Master Yoda," Barriss chuckled.

As the room devolved into laughter, a sudden beeping noise occurred which attracted everyone's attention. Everyone looked towards Ahsoka, and it took her a couple of minutes to realise that her holocommunicator was what was making the noise. She frowned and picked it up, staring at it for a few moments.

"Who could be calling me?" she murmured aloud.

"Well, why don't you answer it and find out?" Terriermon offered.

"I have a spare Jurcian fruit you know, Mister Smart-alec," Ahsoka said, and she answered the call.

The moment the person on the other side presented herself, all the Jedi were instantly on the alert, and stood up in unease. The Digimon instantly sensed their alarm and dived out of sight before the hologram could turn in their direction and notice them, gathering up the Tamers as they did so and ducking behind Aayla's bed.

The person on the other side was not someone that any of them knew personally, but it was a Vahla, and all four Jedi knew that that species were Dark Side users. Whatever this call meant, it was very bad news. They knew that before the caller even opened her mouth.

"Good morning, Jedi," Sanaki sneered. "I trust that you are well, and that I am currently speaking to Ahsoka Tano. Am I right?"

"Who are you?" demanded Ahsoka. "How did you link up with this communicator? I would know if I had given my details to a Vahla."

Sanaki laughed mirthlessly. "First, I want you to answer my question – are you Ahsoka Tano?"

Ahsoka glared at the Vahla for a moment before she stiffly answered, "Yes. Yes, I am. Now who are you?"

"And who else is in the room with you?" the Vahla asked, ignoring Ahsoka's question. "Am I in the presence of Barriss Offee as well?" She turned on the communicator and the Digimon ducked down, pushing the Tamers out of sight as she did so. Barriss blinked as the Vahla's eyes fixed on her.

How did she know she was there? She had only just joined the A-Team. Almost nobody knew that she was part of the group yet. But she just nodded and said, "Yes, that's me. Answer the qu..."

"And I can also see that I am in the presence of the rest of the A-Team," Sanaki arrogantly went on, glancing towards the glowering Anakin and Ahsoka.

"Will you just answer my Padawan's question?" Anakin demanded. "Who are you and why are you contacting us on her communicator. And how did you get the details required to do that?"

"Well, since you ask so politely," the Vahla chuckled. "My name is Sanaki, and I'm one of Count Dooku's newest underlings. I believe one of your number dealt with most of the others a few weeks ago, and I am one of a couple of replacements for the Dark Acolytes. I thought now would be prudent to announce my presence to the Republic."

"I assumed that the defeat of the Dark Acolytes would only be temporary," Aayla muttered. "But Dooku acts faster than I assumed if he already has new candidates lined up."

"There is much you do not know about the Sith, Jedi," Sanaki folded her arms.

"Then why don't you enlighten us," Aayla pressed. "Tell us how you found out how to contact this particular communicator."

"Why, I got the details from Tano's parents, of course," Sanaki's sneer was filled with pure, sadistic delight.

There was dead silence for exactly two seconds before Ahsoka exploded, "MY PARENTS!"

"Ahsoka, steady!" Anakin ordered quickly, feeling the rage that had built up inside his Padawan almost instantaneously.

Ahsoka ignored him and started screaming, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THEM! THEY'VE DONE NOTHING TO YOU! THEY HAD BETTER BE ALRIGHT OR SO HELP ME, I WILL..."

Anakin placed a hand on Ahsoka's shoulder and the Togruta shut up like a clam. She glanced upwards at her Master, her blue eyes meeting with his own, as Anakin tried to impart as much comfort as he could with one look. It seemed to have an effect, as Ahsoka sagged for a moment and her eyes shut, forcing herself to calm down. Then she turned back and glowered at Sanaki. "What have you done with my parents?"

"Your mother, father and little brother are unharmed," Sanaki assured her. "However, whether they remain that way in future depends on you." Her image vanished and was almost instantly replaced with an image of all three members of Ahsoka's family, their wrists clamped in manacles that were attached to chains that held their arms above their heads.

"Ahsoka!" Alina cried.

"Mum! Dad! Elu!" Ahsoka cried, but the image was gone and replaced by Sanaki once again. Ahsoka bit back a growl and then said, "What do you want?"

"Simple really," Sanaki smirked. "I want you to do me a little favour. My colleagues and I desire a particular holocron that we know resides within the Jedi Temple. We want you to take a holocron and the memory crystal that talks of the Great Sith Wars from the Temple, and bring it to the planet Felucia. We have a base there, and we shall be waiting for you there. Tano, you and Offee must be the ones to come and you must come alone. We will scan any ships entering the planet's atmosphere for life-forms, and if there are any more than two, we kill your family. If whoever comes is not the two of you, we will also kill your family."

"And I take it that if we refuse, you will kill Ahsoka's family too," Barriss added.

"Correct," Sanaki smiled. "You have one rotation. If you have not arrived and delivered the holocron to us by then... well..." She drew a line across her throat, making her intentions perfectly clear. "If you do as we ask, though, we will release your parents and you can all go free. Remember, one rotation."

The hologram vanished and Ahsoka was already moving, rushing towards the door. Acting on instinct, both Anakin and Aayla moved to block her way, grabbing her arms and holding her away from the door.

"Ahsoka, slow down," Aayla reprimanded her.

"Slow down!" Ahsoka demanded. "My family is in danger! I can't slow down! We've got to act fast!"

"We know Ahsoka," Anakin said. "But we have a whole rotation to sort this out. That is plenty of time, but we need to think this through first. We rush in, and your family could still be in danger. Believe me, Snips," he said, his expression going incredibly pained. "I know what it's like to have s family member in danger. Time is indeed of the essence, but this one requires delicacy. So please, slow down."

Ahsoka's adrenaline drained slightly when he heard Anakin talk about his past, which he still didn't like to do even though they all knew about it now. She sighed and stepped back, allowing everyone to get up and form a circle.

"This is despicable," Renamon growled. "But, we are dealing with Dark Jedi so we shouldn't expect with anything less."

"Yes, and Dark Jedi are known to be very deceptive," Aayla nodded. "You can't trust any deal they make. There is almost always a second motive to what they say."

"Why would they want that holocron?" asked Henry. "What's so special about it?"

"The Great Sith Wars took places many hundreds of years ago," Barriss said. "Few Jedi read the information on that particular war. Maybe they think if they study the holocron they can find ancient Sith techniques that have been long forgotten to give them an unexpected edge in battles against Jedi."

"A more appropriate question," Anakin went on, "Is why did they target the two of you?" He indicated Barriss and Ahsoka. "If they just wanted a holocron, they could have contacted and blackmailed anyone in the Jedi Order, yet that Vahla chose Ahsoka and Barriss specifically. And she knew that Barriss would here, despite the fact she only joined us yesterday." He glowered. "She was very well informed."

"Sidious?" Rika asked.

"Yep," nodded Anakin.

"So, what does that mean?" asked Lopmon. "The moment Barriss joins us, she becomes singled out by a Dark Jedi, alongside Ahsoka. That can't be a coincidence, right?"

"No, I don't think so," Renamon shook her head. "Assuming the Sith still don't know about us, they think the Jedi are their only problem. Adding a fourth Jedi to the three who are doing them so much trouble might have scared them slightly. Maybe they're trying to eliminate Barriss, and they thought they'd go the extra mile and try and kill Ahsoka too, because they somehow knew Ahsoka had a family that she knew of."

"That means it's not really about the holocron. They want to kill the two of you. Why am I not surprised?" Terriermon sighed.

"I'll be surprised if Ventress is not involved in this," Aayla muttered. "She still wants to get at Ahsoka. And the Sith Wars holocron could be a bonus."

"Well, what do we do?" Ahsoka asked. "We can't just do nothing. It doesn't matter if they want to kill me – my family is being used as bait. I have to save them."

"We will, Ahsoka," Anakin nodded. "But we need a plan."

"Well, we know how to get by sending only two people," Terriermon smirked. "They won't be able to detect us on their life-form scanners. We can send five instead of two and they will never know about it until its too late."

"Yes, but that means that we won't be able to come along," Henry said. "Therefore, you won't be able to go any higher than your Rookie forms. And they are not exactly the most ideal shapes when it comes to dealing with Dark Jedi."

"Good point," Terriermon conceded.

"Still, it's something," Rika agreed. "If you could catch them off guard somehow, you could still come out on top."

"Hold on," Barriss raised her hand. "Wait a minute. I thought there was no Separatist stronghold on Felucia. You guys took that planet yourselves several months ago. And the Republic set a large base in that sector because its close to a hyperspace lane and the Separatists might have tried to exploit it again."

"You're right," nodded Aayla. "There can't be a base there. Not a proper one with a large force like last time. The Republic would know if there was. It would have been detected."

"They might be using the old base that Shu Mai created," suggested Henry. "It's pretty banged up but it wasn't demolished."

"True enough," nodded Anakin. "And they could have snuck a small force down to the planet. A large one would have been noticed, but a small one might have been able to slip past our defences. That means the only forces out there are the Dark Jedi and possibly a handful of droids."

"Regardless of how big their force is," Terriermon said. "This is Felucia we're talking about. And if this is indeed the base that Shu Mai made that they've taken over... well, we have a little something on that particular section of the planet that might give us an edge, remember?"

"An e... oh," Ahsoka said, her eyes lighting up slightly as she realised what Terriermon was saying. "Oh yeah."

"What?" Barriss frowned. "What is it?"

"Barriss," Renamon smirked. "You've heard the stories of the A-Team's exploits on many planets, including Felucia, right?"

"Well, yes," nodded Barriss. "I have."

"What was it about Felucia that inspired most disbelief?" Renamon asked.

"Well, it was... oh..." Barriss' eyes widened. "Could that work?"

"It should do," Renamon nodded. "Assuming my work has lasted, and I have every confidence that it has."

"Now, that is a good point," Aayla chuckled. "You hear that, Ahsoka?" she turned and offered the Togruta a wink. "If we plan this out right, we're going to make that Vahla and whoever else she is working with seriously regret picking Felucia as the place to try and trap you."

"I don't like this all the same," Anakin shook his head. "I don't like the idea of not being there. You sure you can handle this, Ahsoka?"

"Don't worry, Skyguy," nodded Ahsoka. "Barriss and I won't be alone. Not by any means. They are definitely not going to see what we have in mind for them coming."

Anakin chuckled. "There is that, I suppose. But still, we're going to need a plan."

"Shall we huddle?" Terriermon asked.

"Er... why?" asked Rika. "There's nobody else in the room."

"I know, but it makes things seem more conspiratorial," Terriermon shrugged. "And cooler."

"Terriermon, we don't need to huddle," Henry shook his head. "Nobody else is listening."

"Oh, go on," Terriermon protested.

"Everyone just lean forward slightly," Renamon rolled her eyes. "That will have to do."

"Fine, "the bunny shrugged. Everyone did just that and leaned forwards, murmuring to one another in quite voices. Everyone went over the details, suggested ideas and eventually came up with a plan that all of them agreed should be able to get the job done. There were still many variables that could go wrong, of course, as there were with every plan, but it was the best they were going to get.

"Then it's decided," Aayla said after a while. "Sorry that we can't go with you on this one, but in the interest of your family Ahsoka, we will step aside."

"But we won't," Lopmon got to her feet. "We'll be with you all the way."

"Ohacraao rarhoohuao scwo?" Chewbacca said.

"Sorry, Chewie," Lopmon turned to him. "I know you owe me a life debt and everything but you can't come on this one. Wookiees will register as a life-form on all scanners. The only reason we can go at all is because we don't."

"Wait," Ahsoka said. The Togruta turned to Barriss and murmured, "Barriss. Are... are you sure that you want to do this. This isn't your family at stake here, and remember that these people are trying to lure us into a trap and kill us. You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

Barriss blinked as she stared at Ahsoka, who wouldn't meet her eyes. The Mirialan knew that even if they hadn't been team-mates, Ahsoka would have asked that question anyway, but even so, she was still touched by it. Barriss was already beginning to feel at home amongst everyone else. They were making her feel welcome, taking her feelings into account and had already let her into their hearts.

She reached out and placed her hand over Ahsoka's, which was gripping her own knee. Ahsoka looked down at it and then up into Barriss' face with surprise. The Mirialan offered her a smile and a nod. "No, Ahsoka," she said. "This is not your problem – it is _our_ problem. I'll be with you every step of the way. And besides," she chuckled. "Considering what we're planning to do, I wouldn't miss this for the Galaxy."

Ahsoka smiled, lifting her hand with Barriss' still gripping it and twisting it around so they were palm to palm and gripped hers back. "Thanks, Barriss," she said.

"Daaw. Sisterly moment," Suzie grinned.

"Alright then," Anakin said, standing up. "If we're going to get hold of a holocron, we're going to need someone from the Jedi Council to get it for us. And I think I know just who to ask."

* * *

"Please remind me, Anakin," Obi-Wan sighed. "Why did I let you talk me into this?" He and Anakin were currently walking through the library and towards the vault where the holocrons were stored, speaking in quiet voices lest they alert the librarian, Madam Jocastu Nu, as to what they were doing.

"Because it's the right thing to do," Anakin replied. "And because Ahsoka's family is trouble and we can't just let them die. Nor can we use any other method of getting them out safely."

"Surely there must be another way," Obi-Wan shook his head.

"Well, if there is, we don't have the time to implement it," Anakin pointed out. "We haven't got a lot of time. Now, remember, you can't..."

"...tell the rest of the Jedi Council about this," Obi-Wan finished. "Yes, I know. Just how many more times are you going to ask me to cover for you when you or the other members of your team go off and do things without our approval."

"This'll be the last time, I promise," Anakin said.

"Why don't I believe you?" Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "And that's not even taking into account the number of times you've gone off and done something without telling _me_ either."

"Hey," Anakin said. "Let's not talk about me here. This is about Ahsoka and Barriss."

"Yes, I know," Obi-Wan said. "Your aversion to doing what your superiors think you should do has already corrupted your Padawan and even Aayla to an extent. Now poor Barriss hasn't even been with you a full rotation and she's already doing things your way."

"Could you just get the holocron?" Anakin sighed in annoyance. Obi-Wan chuckled. They walked past Jocasta and both nodded in greeting to her. Obi-Wan stepped over to the holocron vault and waved his hand over the panel to the side. It was a special locking mechanism that could only be undone through use of the Force, and as the door slid open, Obi-Wan stepped inside while Anakin waited outside, following the rules of the Jedi Order for once with that action alone.

Of course, Obi-Wan completely understood the seriousness of the situation, as well as the lack of alternative and Ahsoka's position. He just couldn't help but have a little more of the friendly banter he shared with his former Padawan, which he had not had much chance to do for quite a while. He would keep his word not to tell the other Council members about the situation until it had been resolved, for better or worse.

_Poor Ahsoka,_ he thought. _And poor Barriss. This cannot be easy on either of them. _He knew as well as anyone how tense a situation where a loved one was in danger could be, thanks to the recent skirmish involved Duchess Satine. He remembered that the Digimon had been there when he'd confessed to Satine that he loved her. How did they always manage to get involved with this sort of thing?

Obi-Wan crossed the short corridor and opened the giant door to the safe in the same way as the last door. As the metal retracted into the walls from the centre of the door, Obi-Wan stepped into the vault, lined with the glowing spheres that were known as holocrons – special devices that could read the information from memory crystals, but could only be unlocked by Jedi, making them almost completely useless to any non-Force-sensitive.

Obi-Wan extracted one from its pocket in the wall by pushing it in. When he released it, it slid half out, and Obi-Wan quickly scooped it up. He then crossed over another wall and opened up a large panel concealed there that was full of small, green memory crystals. Obi-Wan fished one out and stared at it for a moment, before he sighed and turned back towards the doors, sealing them once again as he walked past them.

Anakin nodded, a cheeky grin on his face, as Obi-Wan exited the vault. The Jedi Master sighed and tossed him the memory crystal, which Anakin stowed in his pocket and then he discreetly passed the holocron to him.

"Please don't make me regret this, Anakin," Obi-Wan pleaded.

"You should really be asking Ahsoka and Barriss that," Anakin smirked. "But, you needn't worry. There's a plan."

"Coming from you, that doesn't encourage me," Obi-Wan called after him as Anakin turned and hurried away, his hand clenched around the holocron. Obi-Wan leaned against one of the bookcases and murmured, "May the Force be with all of you."

* * *

The rest of the group were in one of the four hangars, and had prepped a small shuttle ready for the trip. Goodbyes and 'stay safes' were being said between the Tamers and the Digimon, and Aayla was currently offering reassuring words to Ahsoka and Barriss, both of whom were looking understandably apprehensive about all this.

Anakin entered the hangar then, and everyone turned round to look at him as he approached.

"Did Obi-Wan cooperate?" asked Renamon.

"Indeed he did," nodded Anakin. He tossed the holocron to Ahsoka and the memory crystal to Barriss.

The Mirialan inspected the small green diamond-shaped gem. "So, this _isn't_ the crystal that tells whoever reads it about the Great Sith Wars, is it?"

"Nah," Anakin said. "I told Obi-Wan to just get a blank crystal. Nothing's been put on that one yet. There's no sense in risking the enemy learning more Sith techniques if they manage to somehow get away. Now, are you guys ready?"

"And waiting," nodded Lopmon.

"Well," the Chosen One grimaced. "You guys better get going then. The trip to Felucia is a relatively long one, even if it is on a major hyperspace lane."

"You got it, Master," Ahsoka nodded, as she started to head up the ramp.

"And Snips," Anakin called after her. "Barriss, guys – you'd better make it back to this Temple alive and in one piece. Or I'll get angry."

"Do that, and I'll have to slap you again," Aayla smirked.

Anakin flushed.

Barriss blinked. "She slapped him?" she murmured to Ahsoka.

"Twice," Ahsoka nodded.

"Come on, Ahsoka," Renamon strode past her and up the ramp. "Your family is waiting."

Ahsoka nodded as she and Barriss followed the fox into the shuttle. The ramp began to go up, with Terriermon and Lopmon zipping through the gap when it was half done. Then, it clunked shut and sealed off the outside. A moment later, the shuttle lifted itself into the air and eased its way outside, where it shot off towards the skies.

"I hate it when this happens," Anakin sighed. "When some of our number have to go off and do things on their own like this."

"So do I, Anakin," Aayla nodded. "So do I."

* * *

Predictably, the trip to Felucia was a tense one. Ahsoka was practically leaning over the controls the entire way, as if by doing so she could make the ship go faster. Barriss and the Digimon kept glancing at her sympathetically, but nobody said anything. Hardly a word passed anyone's lips the entire way.

Eventually though, the ship exited hyperspace and the group found themselves staring out at a very green planet dead ahead. "Yep," nodded Terriermon. "That's the planet I remember. Still looking as humid and unforgiving as before, I see."

"That's Felucia for you," Ahsoka murmured. "Spending too low on that planet can be a very bad idea."

"I've never been here before," Barriss murmured. "Is it really as bad as they say?"

"Let's just say that we were only down there for less than twenty-four hours and we were attacked by more things during that time than during our week spent on Ryloth, including battle droids."

"Ouch," Barriss murmured. "Some choice for a base. Speaking of which, we should scan the planet for one, since they claimed there was one down there."

"Already on it," nodded Ahsoka, bending over the screen. "So far they're picking up only one base. Looks like you guys were right. They've just moved in to the abandoned facility left there by Shu Mai. There's not a lot of electrical activity down there – it still seems to be a wreck."

Renamon folded her arms. "You'd think they might be wary considering what happened to it before."

"Maybe they think that it's just a rumour like most of the Galaxy does," suggested Lopmon. "After all, we didn't let anyone get away from that facility to tell the other Separatists what they saw, did we?"

"True enough," nodded the fox.

"We're beginning our descent," Ahsoka said, steering the ship down and into the atmosphere. "You guys ready?"

"Yep," nodded Terriermon. "Just get that ramp down and we'll be out of your montrals."

"Alright then," Ahsoka confirmed, steering the ship lower and lower, until it was a short distance above the large, unusual trees that covered Felucia's surfacce. Then she hit the button that caused the ramp behind them to lower. The wind immediately blew into the cockpit, but the Digimon resisted the blow and stayed upright.

"Let's hope this works!" Barriss shouted over the wind.

"Yeah," agreed Lopmon. "See if you can buy any time you can to help us just in case we need extra. If things get rough in there, which they probably will, we want to be there when the action kicks off."

"You better get going then!" Ahsoka cried. "Good luck, guys."

"You too!" Terriermon called. "See ya later!" With that, Renamon bounded down the ramp and flung herself out into the Felucian sky, Terriermon and Lopmon whooshing out behind her. Barriss watched momentarily as the bunnies grabbed the fox's outstretched paws and flared their ears into parachutes, then turned to Ahsoka and said, "How many times have they done that exactly?"

"Lost count," Ahsoka said, tonelessly. Her focus was what was up ahead instead. We'll land in the forest and approach on foot. Maybe that will give the others more time to find what they're looking for."

"Got it," nodded Barriss. Ahsoka identified a little gap in the trees and gently nestled the ship down in it. As soon as she landed she hurried to get out of the ship, then remembered she was supposed to be going slowly and settled down. Barriss hurried to catch up with her as she reached the bottom on the ramp and, for the first time, Barriss stepped out onto the Felucian soil.

The giant, wide trees seemed foreboding, as if they could be hiding anything, and for a jungle world there was almost no noise. Most jungle planets had cawing birds or primates ringing out all the time, but it seemed like the smaller creatures of this world had learned that making a noise draws unwanted attention very quickly.

"Which way is it?" asked Barriss.

"This way," Ahsoka started off into the trees. Barriss started off after her and quickly caught up, and the young Knight and the Padawan learner walked side-by-side into the trees. Both of them felt a strange sense of unity with the other one, and the bond between them seemed to grow stronger on the spot, as they both mulled over the fact that they were strolling directly into a trap.

"I never thought I'd be doing this when I started out as a Padawan," murmured Barriss. "It was all so exciting that you sort of forget about the bad things that happen to a Jedi when you start out."

"Yeah," nodded Ahsoka. "I was the same several months ago." She sighed. "I never imagined that I would become a specifically important target to the Separatists. Not even after I became Skyguy's Padawan. And look at me now, walking across Felucia and potentially to the doors of death because someone kidnapped my family to get to me."

"To us," Barriss replied, sternly. "I said back on Coruscant that we're both in this together. I don't know about you, Ahsoka, but I have every intention of watching your back throughout all of this, no matter what happens. They want both of us..." he eyes narrowed. "Well, they'll _get_ both of us. And a whole lot more than they wanted if things go well."

Ahsoka chuckled. "You're a motivational-speaker-in-the-making, Barriss," she said. "Don't worry. I'll watch your back too. We'll look out for each other, like we did in that droid factory on Geonosis, right?"

"Yes," nodded Barriss. "Just like then."

* * *

As the two young Jedi made their way through the trees and towards the trap waiting for them, the twin bunnies were currently swooping low over the trees, scouring the area for any sign of something that might allow them to give the Dark Jedi waiting for them on this planet a surprise of their own. Lopmon winged her way around a large rock outcropping, and flew higher into the air when she spotted a Sarlacc and decided not to get too close. She wasn't sure, but it might even have been the same Sarlacc that she stuck her hand down the throat of many months before.

Terriermon saw, in the distance, a small village of pod-like huts mounted off the ground in the distance, surrounded by a glowing green electrofence and full of tortoise-like people but without the shells tending to the ground. It looked like the village that belonged to Cassis and his fellow farmers, where the group had first met Sugi, Embo and the other Bounty Hunters they counted as friends.

But still nothing of what they actually wanted.

Renamon was standing nearby on another rock outcropping not too far away, where she could survey the giant pitcher plants all around her and monitor what the bunnies were seeing through her own eyes at the same time.

_Remember to listen out for them as well,_ Renamon transmitted her thoughts to their brains. _As I recall, they make some very distinctive noises, and I think we all remember what that noise was._

_If we don't then we will when we hear it,_ Terriermon chuckled dryly, raising his ears and trying to tune them into the sounds of the quiet forest. He swooped down lower and dodged between the tree slightly, but after he almost collided with an enormous Jungle Rancor, he decided that was not such a good idea and he flew higher.

It took several long minutes before one of them finally got something. The two of them were able to cover quite a lot of ground during that time, as they knew what they were looking for had very large territories, and they could have been anywhere within it. However, Lopmon's ears pricked slightly as she faintly registered a sound – a shrill, ululating noise like a shrieking bird sitting on a massage chair.

Lopmon immediately tilted her flight and curved around to follow the noise. _Guys,_ she said. _I think I've got something._

_Let's hope you get the right group_, Terriermon murmured. _Be careful, Loppy. No accidents due to unnecessary risks._

_Look who's talking,_ Lopmon said dryly, but she understood what Terriermon was saying. She powered her ears and swept forwards and, sure enough, she spotted them soon enough. There was a group of large animals moving slowly through the plant growth down below. Huge, six-legged creatures, where each leg ended in a pincer-like claw, with long necks mounted with small but wide heads with mouths full of needle-like teeth and large crests sweeping back behind them.

Acklay.

Six of them.

Lopmon knew from experience how dangerous these creatures could be. She and the others had gone up against nine of them in their last trip to Felucia, killing three and incapacitating the others. None of them had been killed, but it had been a very close thing for several members of the group. The only question was, were these Acklay the ones she remembered.

She alighted nearby on another boulder and watched the group. It appeared that she had not been noticed, and she would prefer to keep it that way until she was certain. And, sure enough, she spotted one Acklay in particular near the front of the group, which appeared to be larger than the others and had black streaks running up the crest on its head where all the others didn't.

That was a promising sign.

Lopmon took the gamble and cleared her throat loudly. One of the Acklay immediately swung its head around and fixed its three eyes on her. The others stopped and turned to look at her as well, stepping backwards and turning their armoured bodies around until they were all facing the small Digimon. Lopmon felt a twinge of nervousness at standing in front of these six voracious carnivores. All of them looked very hungry. But then again, Acklay always did.

Terriermon landed beside her after that, and the black-crested Acklay stepped forwards, cocking its head to the side as it curious about the appearance of these two. It let out another of its shrill calls, which the other five Acklay echoed, but Terriermon and Lopmon made no move to back down.

Then, Renamon arrived on the scene, pelting out of the forest and taking a gigantic leap to land behind the other two on the rocks. The Acklay stepped backwards in alarm, and watched as Renamon flipped back onto the ground in front of the rock and took a couple of steps towards them.

"Hello there," she said. "Remember us."

Renamon stood her ground as the huge predator with the black crest stalked towards her, rearing its head back in the striking position. This was the moment of truth. Had her work held permanently as she had thought it would?

The Acklay lunged forward...

...and started nuzzling her.

"Oh, get off, you great lump," Renamon chuckled as she stroked its crest and tried to fend off its butting nose with her other paw. "It's good to see you too. All of you," she added, looking up at the other five with a smile. Terriermon and Lopmon grinned and took to the ear, alighting on the black-striped crest of the lead Acklay as the other five crowded around. All of them seemed to want a chance to reacquaint themselves with the one who had given them their greatest gift, and her mate and sister-in-law.

Renamon laughed as she remembered the day she'd met these killer insect creatures. These were the surviving six of the nine that had attacked their group, and Renamon had been able to incapacitate them by digivolving to Taomon and using her Thousand Spells attack to pin them to the ground. But they had been reluctant to kill the predators while helpless, so Taomon had used some of her prowess to give the Acklay intelligence, understanding and a conscience. They were the only friendly Acklay in the universe. They were still predators of course – she couldn't change that – but they were friendly, and it seemed like Renamon's spell had held.

The black crested Acklay shook its head, playfully trying to loosen the grip of the two bunnies. This particular Acklay was special for another reason – it was slightly Force-sensitive. It had the ability to shoot Force-lightning from its mouth, an orange bolt of electricity that resembled the Electric Judgement discovered by Plo Koon. This group were a deadly adversary, moreso than any other Acklay pack, because while other Acklay might charge in blindly, these Acklay could plan and work together, like lions or wolves. But even wolves or lions could not compare to this lot.

Renamon laughed as she fended off the snouts of the other Acklay. "Yes, yes, nice to see all of you. I would ask how you've been, but since you can't answer me, I'll assume you've been good. Is that right?"

There was a round of nodding from the creatures, which made them look like deadly bobbleheads. Lopmon and Terriermon leapt down to land beside Renamon and turned to face the creatures.

"But there is a problem," Terriermon told them. "I'm afraid that this isn't a social call. If the war was over then it probably would be, but it isn't, so it isn't. I'm afraid we need your help again."

"That's right," nodded Lopmon. "You remember our friend, Ahsoka, don't you?"

More nodding.

"Well, she's in trouble," the brown bunny reported. "Some of our enemies are trying to have her, and our new friend Barriss, killed. They've lured them to the old Separatist base that you guys helped us to take out before, kidnapping Ahsoka's family to use them as bait." She smirked. "You feel like helping us to trash that place a second time?"

The Force-sensitive Acklay reared and shrieked to the sky, bathing the three Digimon in his enormous shadow as he slashed the air with his front claws. The others copied his motion, and the meaning was very clear – bring it on.

"Alright," Terriermon grinned. "We knew we could count on you guys. Now come on. It's this way."

In unison, all three of the Digimon whirled around and launched themselves into action, taking to the air our bounding through the trees and towards Ahsoka's mental signature. There was only a slight pause behind them before the crashing of heavy, clawed feet began to pound on the ground and the trees that were unlucky enough to be in the way were shouldered over by the stampeding Acklay as they dashed into pursuit.

To any observers, it might look like the three Digimon were fleeing for their lives.

But there was much more purpose to this particular run than that. If the Dark Jedi had thought that the Acklay attack was nothing but a rumour, then they were in for a big surprise.

* * *

The base in question had just come into view for the two Jedi, and they stepped carefully towards the giant wall that surrounded it. Barriss stared up at the giant structure, wondering if they would have to jump over it, but Ahsoka waved a hand, indicating for the Mirialan to follow as she skirted around the wall. Sure enough, after a short amount of time, they came to a gaping hole in the thick wall.

"Whoa," Barriss murmured, looking up at the huge gap. "Something was angry."

"We used a detpack to weaken the structure," Ahsoka explained. "And our surprise guests did the rest. Come on. Our dooms await."

"Could you not put it like that?" Barriss wrinkled her nose at Ahsoka's wording.

"Sorry," Ahsoka conceded. "Their doom awaits. Does that sound better?"

"Much," nodded Barriss, and the two Jedi slowly proceeded into the base.

It looked pretty much as Ahsoka remembered it. There was wreckage and debris littered all over the place from the Acklay's previous rampage and many of the walls of the main building still had the huge rents in them made by the Acklay's claws, as well as the circle cut in the front door that Ahsoka herself had made. There was a substantial difference though, in the fact that a large majority of the former base was now overgrown with vines and weeds, and even larger plants breaking through cracks in the concrete floor.

Felucia reclaimed its turf very quickly if it wasn't kept at bay.

There was all the fact that there was a scattering of droids about the place. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but the type of droid in question made it one. There were no B1s or Supers, but there were several MagnaGuards which turned to look around at them when they entered, their electrostaffs crackling into life and holding them ready to defend themselves in case the Jedi tried anything.

And it didn't get any more encouraging when a bunch of droidekas rolled into view and uncurled, raising their shields and pointing them threateningly at the two young girls.

"Great," Ahsoka muttered. "My least two favourite type of clankers."

Both of them pulled their lightsaber hilts from their waists, ready to act in a moment's notice. "What do we do now?" Barriss whispered.

"I don't know," Ahsoka hissed back, but one of the MagnaGuards stepped towards them and halted that thought. The droid indicated the door of the facility, and their forces parted to allow the Jedi through.

"It seems their masters want to meet us themselves," Barriss said.

"Yeah?" Ahsoka asked. "Well, I'm not letting my guard down as I walk through a corridor of droids. Let's just get this over with."

The two of them started to move through the rows of droids, which turned to follow their progress, holding their weapons ready for any sign of an attack. The Jedi gave them nothing to go on and they hurriedly headed for the doors, stepping through the hole already carved through them.

A figure turned to face them when they reached the other side. For a moment they both thought it was Quinlan Vos, but then they realised it was just his species. His hair wasn't as long and he wasn't as powerfully built, but both of them could feel the waves of the Dark Side coming from him.

"Good afternoon," the Kiffar smiled unpleasantly. "I am Arkantos and I will be you host for today."

"Where is my family?" Ahsoka demanded, thumb hovering over her lightsaber switch.

"Straight to the point," Arkantos chuckled. "I take it you have the holocron with you?"

"Yes," nodded Barriss, in a clipped tone. "But we must have proof that Ahsoka's family is still alive and well before you can receive it."

"I thought you would say that," Arkantos nodded. "If you would please follow me." He turned his back contemptuously on the two of them and strode off down the corridor. Barriss and Ahsoka only paused for a moment to glance at one another in disgruntlement, before they hurried after him.

The Kiffar led them straight through several corridors, and across a space where a corridor had used to be but was now just an expanse of open air thanks to an Acklay many months before, until they found themselves in a large space that had clearly been a mess hall of some sort, for when Shu Mai and her associates had frequented the base to oversee its construction.

The Kiffar stepped into the room, and Ahsoka balked when she followed and immediately spotted all three members of her family, chained as they had been in the hologram Sanaki had shown them. "Mum!" she cried. "Dad! Elu!"

"Ahsoka!" cried all three of them at various pitches and times. Catalin went on to cry, "Get out of here! Run!"

Ahsoka started forward, but there was the sound of a lightsaber igniting and Arknatos blocked her path, a red lightsaber blade extending from the hilt in his hand. The Kiffar smirked as he stepped backwards towards Ahsoka's family. Ahsoka immediately activated her own blade and crouched low, ready to spring at him.

"Let. Them. Go," she demanded. "They are not part of the conflict between our sides, so don't bring them into it."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that," said another voice, and Ahsoka and Barriss turned to see that the Vahla had dropped from the roof and landed in the doorway behind them, a red blade of her own levelled at the two young Jedi. "They are your parents, Padawan, and since you are part of the infamous A-Team, that automatically makes them a part of this."

"You're a cruel and heartless woman," Barriss growled.

"So glad we agree," Sanaki sneered, stepping further into the room and forcing them to step back further. "Now, hand us the holocron."

"Don't do it, Ahsoka!" Alina cried. "Don't..." She shut up immediately when Arkantos swung his blade around until the tip was dangerously close to Elu's nose. Ahsoka growled and tensed to spring and Barriss put a hand on her shoulder to steady her, he own blue blade flashing into life in her hand.

"We've brought you what you wanted," the Mirialan informed them, producing the memory crystal from her cloak. "And we have kept to the conditions that you set us." Ahsoka brought forth the holocron and passed it to Barriss, who held them both in the same hand, tightly, and said, "If we give access to the greatest information on the Galaxy about the Great Sith Wars of the past, will you release them and let us all go free?"

"Of course," nodded Arkantos, extending his hand. "Now, hand it to me."

Both Barriss and Ahsoka could sense the lie, but Barriss did as instructed, levitating both of them into the air and floating them across the room and towards the Kiffar. He grabbed both of them and examined the crystal for a moment. His eyes seemed to narrow as he focused closely on the small, green shard.

Only then did the Jedi remember the ability of the Kiffar to pick up signals and memories from an in-animate object.

So, when Arkantos suddenly cried, "Wait a second – this crystal is a fake! It's blank!" Ahsoka was already in motion.

* * *

And while this might be a cliffhanger if the second half weren't already up by the time you've read this, I still think it's a pretty darn good one. Want to find out what happens next? Head for the next chapter.


	9. Twoshot Part 2  Fear Felucia

And here's the second half of the two-shot, and a very, very action-packed second half. Hope you all enjoy reading about the chaos that ensues just as much as I enjoy writing it. It's difficult to come up with new ideas for lightsaber duels that don't make them too samey, but I think I did a good job of the two on two duel that follows. And then of course there's the madness that happens alongside it. Enjoy, everyone, especially you, **Forcystus5**. This is the result of all your long research.

* * *

**Every Fifty**

**Twoshot 1 – Part 2:- Fear Felucia**

**Rating:- T**

**Worlds:- Digimon Tamers, Star Wars: The Clone Wars**

* * *

Arkantos was taken completely off-guard when Ahsoka suddenly charged towards him. The Togruta's fist lashed out, curling into a fist and then was yanked backwards, generating a small Force pull that brought Arkantos stumbling to his knees, his blade moving away from Ahsoka's brother. Ahsoka somersaulted past him and sprang into the air, placing her foot on the wall between her mother and father and above her brother and springing towards Arkantos again. The Kiffar got up and whirled around, but Ahsoka struck him in the chest with her foot and knocked him backwards.

Barriss took one step forward to help, when her senses immediately alerted her to something and she whirled around with a flap of her cloak. Sanaki had decided to charge at her from behind in an attempt to strike her down while her back was turned, but Barriss' blade rose up to meet hers and caught the strike. Both of them twisted their blades, which ran up and down each other for a moment, before Sanaki took a step back and lashed out for Barriss' knees. Barriss slammed her blade into the tip of Sanaki's throwing the strike out wide and allowing the Mirialan a Force-push of her own to send Sanaki back.

The two Dark Jedi quickly got to their feet and readied their blades. Barriss backed towards Ahsoka and stood beside her, shielding Ahsoka's family from any attacks by their enemies and holding their own blades ready to strike.

"So," Arkantos growled. "A fake holocron. I must admit, I am a bit surprised at this development. Did you not think that we would see through your ruse?"

"Did you not think we would see through yours?" asked Ahsoka, bitterly. "You just happened to contact Barriss and me and ask _us_ to bring you the holocron like that, even thought Barriss only joined our group yesterday? This had trap written all over it. We weren't going to take a valuable holocron into the middle of a trap."

"But you did bring yourselves," Sanaki sneered. "The holocron would have been an added bonus to please Dooku, but you are quite right. The real objective of all this was to kill the two of you, and here you are. You think that you're a match for the two of us?"

"We can't answer yes or no to that," Barriss replied primly. "We'll have to test it out in the field, won't we?"

The Vahla growled. "I'll shut your uppity mouth, Jedi! And you won't be able to talk out of the new mouth I give you." Sanaki charged, twirling her lightsaber around her body viciously as she did so. Aware that Ahsoka's family was in close proximity to her, Barriss swallowed her nervousness and leapt forward into the fight, intercepting Sanaki before she could reach them and cutting off her strike. The two pushed against each other, testing the others strength, before Barriss broke the lock and whirled away. Sanaki dashed after her and hacked at her shoulders, but Barriss blade came up and caught the blow in mid-spin. She launched two quick strikes of her own, but Sanaki blocked them both with ease and retaliated with a stab that Barriss clipped to throw off its aim, resulting in her stabbing air to Barriss' left instead, and Sanaki hurriedly brought her blade back to block as Barriss brought another attack crashing down at her.

The two separated at the same time and Barriss watched as Sanaki levitated a table nearby and tossed it at her. Barriss dodged backwards and cleaved upwards, slicing the table from corner to corner, kicking one half away and launching the other back with the Force. It crashed into a wall as Sanaki jumped over it and landed right in front of Barriss, slashing up from down low. Barriss caught the attack just in time, and Sanaki immediately pressed forwards, Barriss was forced back, but the Mirialan skilfully ducked and twirled around her adversary, forcing her to catch herself as she stumbled forwards and twirl around with her, their blades never breaking their lock as they did so.

Barriss promptly broke that lock and traded three quick slashes with Sanaki, forcing her back a couple of paces and then hurling a broken wall panel in from the side with the Force. Sanaki dropped to the floor as it sailed overhead and lunged into a twirling slash, but Barriss catapulted herself to the side to avoid it. Sanaki pursued without delay and attempted to stab Barriss in the back as the Mirialan fled, but Barriss dived out of reach before she could and span about, charging forward with a whirling blade and trying to force Sanaki to defend herself from either side with a burst of quick-fire shots, then made a slash up the middle to catch her by surprise. Sanaki saw it coming though and caught the strike, twisting her blade and sending Barriss' blade flying out of her hand, then kicking her backwards.

Barriss crashed into the wall and Sanaki charged back towards the weaponless Jedi. Barriss' eyes widened, and she ducked, dodging several strikes that slashed into the wall around her but miraculously left her intact. Sanaki growled and made another stab, but Barriss whirled around it and grabbed her adversary's shoulders, pushing her face-first into the wall she had stabbed instead. Barriss immediately kicked her in the back, with the same result, and summoned her blade back to her quickly.

As the two of them tested one another's skills, the other two had started fighting as well. Ahsoka was determined not to let her parents down, and she knew she had draw the fight away from them just as Barriss had done. Arkantos looked like he was about to charge, but Ahsoka beat him to the punch and dashed in with a slash. Arkantos blocked the blow, and the next four rapid slashes that followed. He was taken off-guard by the Padawan's prowess, having expected her to be much less skilled than this. Ahsoka hurriedly pushed his blade aside and leapt up, placing her feet on his torso and pushing herself off and away, flipping onto her feet and one hand. Arkantos turned to face her, which is exactly what Ahsoka had intended because his back were now to her parents.

"You're quick," Arkantos offered her. "Obviously you've had a lot more practice with that blade than most people your age."

"Why thank you," Ahsoka said. "Can you say the same?"

Arkantos scowled. "You have an insulting mouth though," he said. "That must be rectified." And suddenly he made his own move and dashed into the attack. His lightsaber blade swept through the floor as he made an enormous upwards strike that Ahsoka rolled aside to avoid and the Kiffar brought his blade lashing back down with equal force. Ahsoka caught the attack and was pushed downwards, bringing her foot up to kick him in the stomach. Arkantos grunted and stepped back, but leapt right back in and slashed for Ahsoka's front, and when she dodged that he followed up with a whirl and three spinning strikes to her midsection. Ahsoka rolled and dodged, and ducked under the enormous sweep that Arkantos used next, but she knew that she was dealing with someone who knew what they were doing. She couldn't afford to get distracted, not even by her own family.

Fortunately, they were not doing anything to attract her attention, but if she got in trouble that could change. She hurriedly attempted to tune them out early as she rolled to avoid a double-rolling-slash from the red-bladed Kiffar.

She took advantage of a minor opening that she saw and pressed her attack, slashing for his thigh. Arkantos flipped his blade down and caught the strike, and Ahsoka used her speed to her advantage and retaliated with several closely timed strikes towards his chest, one after the other and all within close proximity to the other. Arkantos was forced backwards to avoid the strikes, his blade whirling as he was hard-pressed to catch them all, but as he prepared for more Ahsoka was already in the air, flipping over him and slashing from above. Arkantos blocked and turned, also blocking the blow to his ankles that Ahsoka sent out when she landed and span around. He retaliated, and Ahsoka avoided the strike by hurling herself backwards and crouching beside the wall.

* * *

Outside, the MagnaGuards and Droidekas that filled the grounds of the previously abandoned outpost that were closest to the mess hall complex had heard the sound of clashing lightsabers coming from within. The MagnaGuards had turned around, preparing to march into the room and provide support to the Dark Jedi, as was their program, when another sound that all of them registered stopped them.

They turned towards the forest on the other side of the wall with the enormous gap in it, and every droid in mechanical apprehension as what sounded like many, many pairs of thundering feet grew steadily louder. The trees some distance away from the complex were shaking violently and several of them were being knocked over. The Droidekas readied their arm-blasters and the MagnaGuards prepared their electrostaffs, ready for anything.

Evidently, 'anything' did not cover what happened next, because they most certainly were not ready for it.

Three creatures were propelled out of the underbrush – a bipedal, yellow fox, and two airborne bunny like creatures – and swept straight through the gap in the wall. Before any of the droids could take action against them though, they suddenly turned and separated, dashing off to either side of the gap as the whole forest seemed to explode and an enormous, shrieking shape burst into view and stampeded threw the gap in the wall. An enormous and clearly very angry Acklay was in the middle of the nearest droids before they knew what was happening. And it was not the only one. The ground practically shook as fifteen more pairs of legs slammed through the gap in the wall, the five Acklay attached to them copying their leader with their screeching.

Two droidekas were promptly crushed by the stabbing feet of the first Acklay before they could raise their deflector shields. The second two had time to raise them, but they made no difference whatsoever to the Acklay's plunging arms, which went straight threw the shields to skewer the droids within and spear them into pulps on the ground. A nearby MagnaGuard suffered a similar fate and was pinned to the floor by one of the Acklay's middle claws which ripped through its metal body as easily as butter.

Another nearby MagnaGuard finally got its act together and leapt for the Acklay, whirling its electrostaff and striking the insect-like creature across the face. The Acklay barely flinched and screeched as it lunged to the side and snapped the MagnaGuard up in its jaws, snapping the electrostaff and shaking the battered droid from side to side, before releasing it to send it flying into a nearby wall. Three droidekas unleashed a hailstorm of red lasers at the Acklay, but they were easily absorbed by the creature's armour, and a second Acklay suddenly rampaged over the three droidekas as if they weren't even there and swung its head like a club at a pair of MagnaGuards and sent them sweeping into the air. One was plucked right out of it by the jaws of a third Acklay and thrown to ground, where it was promptly skewered. Twice.

The droids didn't know which way to turn. There were only six of the great adversaries, but they seemed to be everywhere, charging around and interacting with one another in synchrony, so it seemed like no part of the base was without an Acklay there for more than five seconds. The fourth Acklay ploughed itself into the side of the main fortress and tore the wall asunder, sending many slabs to flatten more droids to the ground, and the Acklay rampaged over them just to make sure they were dead.

The fifth Acklay plunged its face through the shield of a droideka and snatched it up by its head, tossing it skyward, and proceeded slam aside a MagnaGuard on either side of its with swift, ferocious bats of its middle legs. The droideka landed on another one, sending them both onto their sides, where the sixth Acklay stomped them into the ground. A MagnaGuard attempted to plunge its electrostaff into the Acklay's flank, but the Acklay turned on a dime and brutally smashed it with its head. It crashed against the fourth Acklay's flank, and the giant bug looked at it in irritation before it stabbed it with a claw for good measure.

The sixth Acklay turned back around to see a squadron of droidekas rolling towards it. It lowered its head and bared its teeth, letting off an almost unearthly roar-slash-shriek right at them. It was so terrible that the droidekas, which weren't even programmed for fear, immediately began to roll the other way to try and escape, but the whole line was blindsided by the second Acklay, the last one grabbed in its mouth and torn to shreds. The fifth Acklay charged between both of them in pursuit of a fleeing MagnaGuard, which turned and threw its electrostaff. The Acklay batted it aside with a claw and slammed the MagnaGuard with the same claw, crushing it between the claw and the wall. The third Acklay flung another MagnaGuard at towards the fifth, and the droid promptly joined its comrade in being flattened, then the third one whipped around and reared, looming over a pair of droidekas and slamming its legs all around them like a cage. Then it lowered itself and squashed the pair beneath its stomach.

The first and lead Acklay tore into the main facility and snapped up a MagnaGuard that had tried to get away by retreating inside, tossing it back out again and lancing it with its foot. It turned around to find more of both kinds of droid advancing on it, the MagnaGuards dashing forwards as the droidekas provided covering fire. Its throat pulsated and the droids were taken off guard as a burst of orange Force-lightning surged out of its mouth. All the MagnaGuards were vaporised by the crackling blow, and it was so powerful it busted down the shields of many of the droidekas and took them out as well.

The remaining droidekas were attacked from behind by creatures which were not Acklay. Renamon suddenly landed next to one, her arm plunging through its shield and crushing its three photoreceptors and the stalks they sat on. Blinded, the droideka seemed to panic and began firing wildly. Renamon grabbed it and aimed it at two of its fellows. Droideka bolts were powerful enough to have an effect on the shields of their fellow and the other two seemed to stumble backwards under the heavy blows. Terriermon and Lopmon surged in behind them and wrapped their ears around the shield generators that unfolded from their sides, and with terrific wrenches, they snapped them off. They quickly flew aside as the unshielded droids were felled by the other one, which had its own life ended when Renamon planted a foot on its back and heaved, snapping its metallic body in two.

"This is going well," Terriermon laughed. "Oh, I forgot how awesomely destructive these guys are. And this time, I get to see it through my own eyes."

"Keep up the good work, big guy!" Lopmon waved to the Acklay as it flattened a droideka the three of them had missed. It trilled in response and charged after another that was attempting to flee.

Renamon's ears pricked and she whirled about, grabbing the electrostaff from a MagnaGuard that had swung at her and wrenching it out of its grip. The droid stepped back as Renamon swung at its with its own weapon, just avoiding the blow, but it was suddenly slammed by a whirling white tornado, and sent flying back, where it was slammed in the back by a whirling brown tornado before it could fall and sent sprawling. Renamon stabbed the floored droid with the electrostaff, then backflipped over another that had charged her from the side. The MagnaGuard looked around and found itself surrounded by the three Digimon, all three of which launched their ranged attacks at the same time. The MagnaGuard didn't know which way to defend itself and it was torn apart by the Bunny Blast, Blazing Ice and Diamond Storm that lanced at it from three directions at once.

"Glorious chaos!" Renamon chuckled.

"Wuh-oh," Terriermon balked. "Renamon's losing it."

"Good," Lopmon nodded. "It's more fun this way."

Terriermon blinked, then shrugged and told himself, "Momentai, Terriermon. They're right." He then yelled, "RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINES!" Then the three Digimon leapt back into the fray.

* * *

"What the hell is going on out there?" Sanaki asked in alarm, as she flipped away from and spinning swing from Barriss. She glanced towards the wall, as she was nowhere near the entrance and exit to the room, and listened to the shrieking and crashing and other sounds that indicated everything was being completely an utterly trashed that was coming from outside.

Ahsoka rolled away from a downwards slash from Arkantos and came up nearby. "Sounds like someone, or something, has managed to get inside your base. I wouldn't count on any droid reinforcements if I were you."

As if to prove her point, a droideka rolled into the room... in many different pieces. The neat slashes a lightsaber blade would produce were absent. This droid looked like it had gone through a blender or something.

Sanaki and Arkantos stared at it in disbelief, and then both glowered at the two Jedi. "This is not possible," Arkantos growled. "How can either of you have allies? We scanned the ship as you entered the atmosphere, and saw no more life-forms than the two of you. And the scanners are still on, so we would know if a second ship had arrived."

"Maybe you should have paid more attention to the stories," Barriss replied. She herself was having a hard time picturing what might be happening outside, but from the sounds of things, it seemed the tall tales had not been exaggerations after all. _Wow,_ she thought. _This is getting interesting, very quickly._

Sanaki sneered. "You may have found a way of getting more allies, but the two of you will be dead long before they can help you." She charged again, and Arkantos was right beside her, the two of them running towards Barriss and Ahsoka with blades poised and ready to strike down on them from above.

Everything almost seemed to go in slow-motion as Barriss and Ahsoka met one another's eyes out of the corners and both of them seemed to understand what they had to do next. They used a tactic which completely threw the two Dark Jedi for a loop once again – they suddenly switched opponents. Barriss dashed across Ahsoka and Ahsoka leapt over Barriss and engaged the opponent that they had previously not been fighting against.

Sanaki was unprepared for the speed of Ahsoka's strike, or the angle it came from since she had been going for Barriss. She only just managed to catch her strike, but went stumbling backwards onto her backside. Quickly rolling back onto her feet, the Vahla rushed to defend herself as Ahsoka launched a flashing succession of blows from a flurry of directions, seemingly at random but actually due to well-coordinated twirling of her lightsaber. Sanaki blocked a slash aimed at her head and jumped back to avoid two slashes to her abdomen and another cleave at her shoulder, before she turned aside another blow to her head. She leapt to strike back, but Ahsoka was gone, flipping onto her hands and rolling, whirling around to sweep-kick Sanaki in the stomach. As she doubled over, Ahsoka hit her with a Force push that knocked her backwards.

Arkantos was just as unprepared as his comrade, and Barriss almost blindsided him. He caught her blade quickly, but Barriss had more weight behind her and threw him back several metres. He managed to keep his footing and quickly let out a wide horizontal slash at Barriss, but she flipped her blade till it pointed down and caught it, rotating her wrist to knock his blade aside, and retaliating with a spinning slash to his ribcage, which Arkantos only just managed to catch. As he stumbled backwards, Barriss moved with him and struck out several times towards his lower half, forcing Arkantos to block or jump over several blows, before she spun about and cleaved for the head. Arkantos dodged but lost several of his dreadlocks to Barriss' blade. He whirled around, but Barriss was still there and slammed her blade towards his chest, pushing him backwards again with the blow's ferocity.

The reason this move had been so effective for both of the Jedi to begin with, aside from the element of surprise, was that they had both noticed the two Dark Jedi used the same lightsaber style, one called Ataru. But Barriss and Ahsoka used very different techniques. Ahsoka preferred to use her speed, staying out of range and dodging about to come in from different angles. Barriss stayed closer and relied more on precision and co-ordination. Almost complete opposite in style. The Dark Jedi had adjusted to fighting the style of the other opponent, when they suddenly had something completely different thrown at them, whereas the two Jedi were still facing the same technique.

Sanaki backed away as Ahsoka dropped from the ceiling to slash the floor where she'd been and sent a flurry of nearby, rusted pots and pans at the young Togruta, forcing her to raise her arms and catch them before they could slam into her and potentially slam her over the head. "That was a clever move," she conceded. "But it will not save you."

Arkantos backed away from Barriss and hit her with a Force-push. Barriss threw one of her own at the same moment, which counter-acted the effect slightly, but Arkantos' was still stronger and Barriss slid back across the room several metres. "I call it fighting dirty, but I agree with Sanaki's second point."

"I call it strategy," Ahsoka said.

"And neither of us agree with Sanaki's second point," Barriss added.

"Really?" Sanaki leered. "We'll see if we can't change that." And without another word, the two sides leapt forward to engage one another in battle again.

By the wall and still with their arms chained above them, Ahsoka's family watched in a mixture of awe and fear as they watched her daughter and the other Jedi they didn't know taking on the two evil doers, in a intricate dance of frenzied lightsaber motion – the air seemed to be charged with energy that intensified every time a lightsaber blade crashed together. On the one hand, they were really proud of their daughter, but on the other hand, they were terrified.

Alina had seen a practice lightsaber duel between Ahsoka and Aayla on Shili. But this one, this real one, was much more intense and a lot more scary. The blows were more vicious, and the attacks seemed to be faster. There was intent to kill behind these swings that had been absent before. It was utterly terrifying.

They might not know much about lightsaber combat, as they watched the battle beginning to unfurl once more, they started to notice it gradually swinging back into the favour of the Dark Jedi, as they adjusted to the skills of their newer opponents and countered with their own deadly styles. Ahsoka and Barriss were both being forced back now.

Ahsoka dodged a whirling kick from Sanaki and, after failing to hit her with a strike to the chest, parried three successive blows with flashing motions of her blade. She span about for retaliation, parrying a strike aimed at her back from behind and slamming her blade down on the Vahla, but Sanaki crouched low and caught the blow, then surged forwards and threw Ahsoka backwards several feet. Nearby, Barriss had just had a strike to the hip parried and she was following up with a slash to the arm, but Arkantos caught her blade again and threw it upwards. Barriss inly just managed to bring it back down in time to block two more strikes, before the Kiffar hit her with another Force-push and threw her backwards too.

The two Jedi were spared from crashing to the ground because they crashed into each other instead. "Ow!" they both cried as their backs slammed into one another, but this position meant that they could lean against each other and prevent further stumbling, so they both effectively caught one another. The two held their position, standing back to back as the two Dark Jedi approached them from either side.

"Any bright ideas?" Barriss whispered to her.

"Not really," Ahsoka replied.

"Me neither," confirmed the Mirialan.

Sanaki and Arkantos suddenly charged in again from either direction, and the two young Jedi's focus was switched back to the fighting. Ahsoka parried Sanaki's opening strike, using Barriss' back for support, and pushed backwards, letting off two slashes of her own which were easily countered, and then she was forced to halt a low blow designed to slice her up the middle. Barriss was hurriedly blocking blows herself from Arkantos and barely managed to stop a blow from above that would have hit both her _and_ Ahsoka in the head. She lashed out with a foot and caught Arkantos in the elbow, but he backed off only for a second before her charged with another furious swing.

Barriss grabbed Ahsoka's shoulder with her hand and forced the Padawan down as the blow cleaved the air where their necks had been and slammed into Sanaki's own blade. The Dark Jedi faltered in surprise, and the other two took advantage of this and powered upwards to knock their blades aside. But the Dark Jedi recovered quickly and launched more blows. Ahsoka and Barriss whirled around one another to counter the attacks of their opposite opponents, and then swung back around to block off their originals again. This time though, the switching had little effect, and the Dark Jedi continued their relentless assault, forcing the Jedi closer to one another until they were pressed up against each other.

Finally their escape opportunity came when both Arkantos and Sanaki made wide horizontal slashes from opposite directions. Barriss dropped to the floor again, but Ahsoka sprang upwards and her feet cleared the humming blades. She flipped and dropped back down, twisting around and grabbing Barriss round the waist in her arms. Barriss seemed to cotton on and grabbed Ahsoka too, and they both dived out of the way in synchronisation as their opponent's blades slammed into the ground where they'd been.

They both released one another at the last minute and hit the floor rolling, coming back onto their feet and spinning around again. They both offered the other one a brief nod of thanks, and then turned their attention back to the Dark Jedi who were already preparing for the next phase of their attack.

"This is taking longer than I expected," Arkantos grumbled. "These two are fairly good after all."

"Easily rectified," Sanaki sneered, lowering her lightsaber and raising her fingers slightly. "Here's a little something I was taught in the cult back on Vahl."

The two Jedi could practically smell the air charging up and their eyes widened in alarm, and separated quickly, just as Sanaki let off a blast of lightning right at them. The electricity was not nearly as powerful as something Dooku could produce, but it would be painful none-the-less. It arced between the two, and Sanaki quickly sent off another blast at Ahsoka. The Togruta positioned her lightsaber and caught the attack, and Sanaki poured in more power, locking Ahsoka in that stance to try and defend herself.

"Let's get them a little angrier, shall we?" Arkantos suggested, and he turned his head towards the chained Togruta family nearby. Ahsoka's eyes widened as he moved towards them, lightsaber raised.

"Barriss! Stop him!" she cried, but she needn't have bothered, as Barriss was already in motion. As Arkantos got close to Ahsoka's family, she grabbed a broken section of the ceiling with the Force and heaved, pulling it down on top of the Kiffar. He yelped in alarm as he was battered from above and pushed the ground and looked up just in time to see Barriss charging at him, blade raised. He blocked her strike and clambered to his feet, but Barriss had already raised a foot and slammed him in the chin with it. As he was thrown back, Barriss hit him with a Force-push that sent him flying back towards Sanaki.

Sanaki broke off her lightning attack just in time to get clobbered by her comrade and sent to the floor. Ahsoka was released from having to block the attack, and she hurried over to Barriss and grabbed her in a fierce hug. "Thank you, Barriss," she mumbled, tears in her eyes. "That was too close."

Barriss quickly squashed her surprise and returned it. "You're welcome," she said, as the two stepped apart. "We should really get them away from your parents though, in case they try that again."

Ahsoka nodded, and, in unison, they turned to the Dark Jedi as they clambered to their feet. Neither of them gave them a chance to charge, dashing in themselves and hurling a double Force-push at them. Sanaki and Arkantos were thrown backwards, right through the gaping hole in the wall and outside.

"I'll be back!" Ahsoka cried, as she rushed out of the room where her family were languishing, Barriss right beside her.

* * *

Now that they were outside, the Dark Jedi could finally see what was going on, and the sight made their jaws drop. They separated quickly as an enormous Acklay thundered over the spot where they'd been standing, a droideka clenched in its teeth and being shaken around like a leaf, and a second one was promptly flattened underneath its claws. Another one rounded the corner and sent a MagnaGuard flying clear over the perimeter wall with one huge swipe of its claw. Another one turned around to slam the MagnaGuard swiping at its side with the droideka it was swinging around by its legs.

Another one had somehow clambered onto the roof of the complex and now leapt right off it and fell onto a group of droidekas with a howling screech. Another had gotten its neck under the remains of a surveillance tower and heaved it over onto another couple of MagnaGuards, crushing them flat. And the final one slammed both feet down, one on either type of droid, before it turned and balefully regarded the Dark Jedi nearby, a hungry look in its eyes.

"Impossible," breathed Arkantos. "This simply isn't possible."

"Even when the proof is laid out before you, you don't believe it," Ahsoka said, as she stepped towards the two. "You didn't believe we would last long against you either."

Barriss said nothing. She was almost as gobsmacked as the Dark Jedi, watching the carnage that the Acklay were causing all around them, just as the others had said that they could and would back on Coruscant. The nearest one was stalking towards them, ululating as it stared at the Dark Jedi, who raised their lightsabers in response.

A shadow fell across the two, and they looked up to see some kind of fox creature high in the air, a MagnaGuard in her grip. Renamon had grabbed the droid and launched herself up, carrying it with her into the sky. With a wrench, she tore is mechanical arm off and battered it in the head with them. It crashed to the ground, where Renamon landed on it hard to complete the destruction. She then threw herself forward and slammed a droideka with a Power Paw that dented it so severely it would never roll again.

Another MagnaGuard was also airborne, but was being carried by its feet by Terriermon and Lopmon, its head being dragged unceremoniously across the ground until it hit a chunk of debris and lost it completely. The bunnies tossed it aside, but its body was still going so they poured their energy pellets into it until it stopped, sparking. A pair of droidekas rolled in from either side and began to unfurl, but before they got the chance to raise their shields, the bunny siblings separated and sent bits of the droidekas flying in all directions when they slammed into them as miniature cyclones.

Renamon landed near the two Jedi and said, "We've got things covered out here, you two. Anything else you need?"

"My family are in there," Ahsoka pointed into the exit they'd just left. "Could you go and free them and ensure that they stay safe."

"We're on it," Lopmon said, as she and Terriermon swooped through the massive hole. Ahsoka and Barriss turned back to the Dark Jedi and ready their blades.

"Do you believe you should have taken more caution when it comes to us now?" Ahsoka asked. "We always have a plan. And it's usually very extravagant."

"Your pets won't be able to stop us from killing you?" Arkantos cried.

"We'll see," Barriss said, eyes narrowing as her thoughts turned to how they could beat these two Dark Jedi before they attacked again. They were both very skilled with a blade, and so far the only reason the other two were left alive was that they were pulling out surprises. But perhaps... there was a way to work their chosen lightsaber technique against them.

"Ahsoka," Barriss turned abruptly to her companion. "Do you trust me?"

Ahsoka blinked and frowned, but then she answered, "Yeah, with my life. Why?"

"Just follow me," Barriss murmured. "I have an idea." She turned back to the others and said, "You want us? Come and get us?" And she dashed off to the side, Ahsoka hot on her heels, as they headed for a large opening in the main bulk of the former Separatist complex, directly across from the hole in the mess hall. Enraged, Arkantos and Sanaki blindly charged after the two of them as they disappeared inside.

The Acklay that had been watching them then refocused its attention on the MagnaGuard that had spent the last twenty seconds climbing onto its back and was now beating it in the back of its long neck with its electrostaff. The Acklay screeched and careened towards the wall, rearing up and slamming its back against the concrete structure and flattening the MagnaGuard. The Acklay fell back down and snapped up a Droideka that had been trying to roll past and tossed it away, then charged back into the main fight.

* * *

The three Togrutas didn't have a clue what was going on any more. They were still chained where they had been left, and they kept trying to peer around the hole to see what was happening. The only thing they saw was an occasional set of green, clawed legs running past, which did little to help their confidence.

"Ahsoka," Alina murmured, tears in her eyes. "Please be okay."

"She'll be alright, won't she, Mum?" Elu looked up at her with pleading eyes, desperate to hear good news. "She's going to be okay, isn't she?"

Alina smiled down at her son and said, "Of course she will, dear. Don't you worry."

"Your sister is tough," Catalin chipped in, and he sounded much more confident and sure of himself than Alina did. "Don't worry, she'll find a way. And that friend of hers seems to know what she's doing too."

Alina gave her mate a grateful look and rested her head on his shoulder, praying for the daughter she had been reunited with so recently and so briefly.

"Hello guys!" a shout startled all three of them as Terriermon soared into the room, with Lopmon close behind him. "Fancy running into you here."

"Hey, it's the Digimon," Elu cried with excitement, as Renamon bounded in after them. "The Digimon are here."

"Yes indeed," nodded Lopmon. "We could hardly let them come alone, could we?"

"But, what...?" Catalin frowned. "I thought that they were scanning for life-forms or something like that."

"They were," Renamon confirmed, stepping over to them. "But there are many things about us that can catch the Separatists off guard. Now, hold still."

Elu flinched slightly as Renamon grabbed his chains and yanked them out of the wall with a ferocity that no normal Togruta could hope to match. They trailed on the floor next to him, but that couldn't be helped. As Renamon freed Alina and Catalin as well, Lopmon and Terriermon stood by the doors to watch what was going on outside.

"Looks like everything is almost over," said Lopmon. "The last of the droids are being mopped up as we speak."

"What about Ahsoka?" asked Alina. "Where is she? What's going on?"

"That..." Terriermon turned to look at them. "Is difficult to tell. But we're going to have to insist you stay in here for a while, just in case the Dark Jedi come back, or our allies out there mistake you for enemies. We do _not_ want any accidents, do we?"

"Not a chance," Renamon agreed.

* * *

Arkantos and Sanaki had followed their quarry into what appeared to be the remains of the control room that operated the station. Of all the rooms in the place, this one appeared to be the most heavily damaged. Half the room had practically been caved in, the ceiling was in tatters and in the small space there was left, there was debris all over the floor.

There was also no sign of Barriss or Ahsoka.

They faltered in confusion, but then heard the sounds of something hitting the ground behind them and turned to find the Jedi were standing there, holding their blades ready, having dropped from the ceiling to cut off their escape. That _had_ been another exit to the control room, but it appeared to have been caved in by the Acklay's assault many months before.

"It's time to end this," Barriss said, raising her lightsaber. "Remember, you can always surrender at any time. You are beaten. Even if you succeed in killing us, then you'll have a very difficult time getting away from here. Those Acklay out there will be very angry indeed if anything happens to either of us."

"That's a laugh," Arkantos crowed. "As if we would ever surrender to the likes of you. A Padawan and a Knight who only just gained her Knighthood. We will not be bested by either you or your strange allies."

"Guess that answers our question," Ahsoka shrugged. "Now come on. Let's do this."

"My thoughts exactly," Sanaki hefted her blade and engaged the Togruta, while Arkantos and Barriss resumed their attack on one another at exactly the same time, filling the small space with whirling lightsabers that meant they had to be careful not to hit their own allies.

Sanaki curved her blade down and Ahsoka parried it to the side, so Sanaki whirled around with the block and slammed into Ahsoka's blade again, immediately whipping round the other way to strike from the other side. At the last moment, she had to avoid cutting into Arkantos arm, so the strike was slightly off, allowing Ahsoka to catch it and angle her blade so her opponent's was forced down to the floor. Sanaki received a punch in the face from Ahsoka's free fist and staggered slightly, getting backed into a corner. Ahsoka pursued without delay and Sanaki found herself on the defensive again. Ahsoka retreated her blade after Sanaki caught a downward strike and immediately angle one up from below, but when Sanaki caught that too she backed off, then accelerated back in with a blur of slashes to the midsection. Sanaki was forced against the wall as she desperately tried to fend them off.

Arkantos was having similar problems. A growl adorned his face as Barriss ducked under one of his strikes and caught the blade when it came scything back at her. The Mirialan released the lock as Arkantos pushed against her heavily, throwing him off balance as he followed his unwanted momentum, and allowing Barriss to hit him in the side with her shoulder. He stumbled backwards, and tried to cleave upwards, but Barriss caught it again easily and forced it back down, planting an elbow into the Kiffar's nose for good measure. Arkantos howled as he reared back, clutching the bleeding thing, but then charged forwards and sent four quick-fire hacks at Barriss, seeking to overwhelm her. He was surprised when Barriss turned them around with ease, and retaliated with a spin above her head that would have taken his own head off had he not managed to block it within a fraction of centimetre from his ear. She retracted it quickly and slammed her blade towards his chest again, pushing him further back into the room.

Arkantos had realised that Ahsoka seemed to like to stay low, and make herself a hard-to-reach target. For that reason,

You might be wondering why Ahsoka and Barriss were suddenly doing so well against the two Dark Jedi facing off against them. The Dark Jedi were just as surprised, but then they both realised the blunder that they made. Both of them used the Ataru style, which was a deadly style in the right hands, but it had one major downside – it required a lot of space to use it. And their opponents had used their anger to draw them into this tight space, where they could not swing as widely or powerfully as before and therefore their blows were not as good.

And Barriss had known that. While she might not be as skilled at using the blade as Aayla or Anakin, she had always been a very studious Padawan. Being someone who trained under the patient and thorough Luminara Unduli, it was difficult not to be. She could memorise an entire Geonosian labyrinth if need be. And she had read a significant amount of the weaknesses and strengths of various styles of combat, which was why she knew what to do in this situation.

As Arkantos and Sanaki were pushed further and further back into the room, their space became more and more limited as they were struggling not to hit one another as well. Ahsoka and Barriss were able to stay further apart, and, as they pressed them back, all they were really doing now was raining blows at them in whatever direction felt natural.

Sanaki desperately blocked three slashes to her head from Ahsoka's blade, and rolled aside as Ahsoka slashed down, cleaving through the wall instead of the Jedi. The Vahla attempted to retaliate from below, but Ahsoka countered her move almost before she'd gotten if and spun around to crash her blade at Sanaki's midsection. The Vahla only just caught it and was pushed into the wall by the much younger saber-user. The two pushed against one another, almost nose-to-nose, and Sanaki's strength began to win out, so Ahsoka withdrew and slashed again to force her back.

Arkantos tried to stab forward in the hope that Barriss would back off and he might be able to pull off an escape. But Barriss countered the stab with a quick parry that flung his arm out wide and flipped her blade around to stab herself. Arkantos dodged and Barriss blade plunged under the crook of his saber arm's pit and into the wall beyond. Arkantos hurriedly tossed his blade to the other arm and tried to strike with that instead, but Barriss withdrew her blade and caught the much weaker blow (clearly Arkantos was not ambidextrous like Aayla was) with extreme ease. Arkantos growled.

Suddenly, everything was over in a mere few moments. While Arkantos was handicapped with his other arm being the one holding his main weapon, Barriss slid her blade down his until the hilts were close together and suddenly span her blade around. Arkantos' blade was flung out of his hand and clattered to the floor as a mere hilt some distance behind Barriss. The Kiffar stared in shock and Barriss took advantage of his surprise and touched her fingers to his chest. He was pushed back as if a bomb had gone off there instead and he slammed into the wall, stunned and slumped to the floor.

Sanaki balked when Arkantos flopped practically right next to her and Ahsoka acted in that exact moment while her focus was elsewhere. Using some hand-to-hand combat skills that Plo Koon had taught her, she grabbed the Sanaki's wrist and span around jerking it down with her shoulder in the crook of Sanaki's elbow. Sanaki helped as her arm clicked and lightsaber fell from her nerveless fingers. Ahsoka caught the hilt and spun around to deliver a vicious roundhouse kick to Sanaki's chin and sent her spawling beside her companion.

Ahsoka tossed Sanaki's lightsaber hilt over her shoulder, where it joined Arkantos' on the floor. Barriss stepped over to the two dazed Dark Jedi and levelled their lightsabers at them, the blades' tips hovering right between their eyes, rather like Arkantos had been doing with Elu earlier.

"Game over," Ahsoka said. "Looks like we win."

"Please," Sanaki whimpered. "Don't hurt us?"

"Don't hurt you?" Ahsoka scoffed. "You were going to kill us without a second thought if this position had been reversed and we were the ones on the floor. What makes you think that you deserve mercy if we evidently don't?"

"We were just following orders," Arkantos' objected.

"Don't give us that," Barriss frowned at them. "You were enjoying every moment of that until we started winning. Threatening Ahsoka's family like that, was that just orders too? I could feel the sinister delight coming off you in spades when you started doing that."

"You don't deserve any mercy at all," Ahsoka said. "None of you do. The things you do would automatically earn you a death penalty on hundreds of systems. My family did not deserve what you did to them. Nobody does."

Arkantos and Sanaki both had fear in their eyes as the two young girls stood over them, lightsabers held steady as rocks as they pointed them at the middle of their former opponents faces. But then, the lightsabers withdrew (though admittedly, Ahsoka's remained slightly longer than Barriss') and the two Jedi stepped back.

"You're lucky that we're Jedi that keep to the Code," Barriss informed them. "Unlike you, Arkantos. I walked past you a couple of times in the Jedi Temple when I was younger. To think that you would turn out like this is highly disturbing. However, now I am going to reiterate my offer of surrender. Will you take it?"

"Yes," Sanaki said immediately. "We'll take it. Put us in custody if you have to. Just don't kill us."

Ahsoka and Barriss glanced at one another through the corners of their eyes. Neither of them could fully believe what was going. They had just taken part in a life-or-death lightsaber duel, struggled it out to the end while following all the rules of honour and they had come out on top. They had won. And all thanks to their skills on the field, their surprise tactics, Ahsoka's speedy movements and Barriss' knowledge of lightsaber techniques.

But, of course, the Dark Jedi are prone to cheating. It didn't change the fact that Barriss and Ahsoka had won their duels, but it did mean that the tables were suddenly reversed very quickly. Arkantos and Sanaki only had to glance at one another, hatred rising inside them and both deciding to give it one last shot at victory. Ignoring all honour and the surrender they had just given, they suddenly acted.

Utilising the same technique of abruptly switching targets as before, Arkantos lashed out with an arm and curled his fist in Ahsoka's direction. Ahsoka hacked as her throat felt like it was constricted and her hands flew to her neck, trying to pull away hands that weren't there as her feet left the floor, kicking and struggling as Arkantos continued to Force-choke her.

Barriss looked alarmed and was just about to strike the Kiffar down when Sanaki lashed out with her own fingers and white lightning blasted from the tips of both hands and slammed into Barriss, crackling all over her body and splaying all her limbs out wide as it coursed through her. A scream of agony was wrenched from the Mirialan's lips. The blast ceased quickly enough and still wasn't a full-power Sith Lightning blast like Dooku's, but it was strong enough to send her flying across the room to thud into the opposite wall, dazed and spasming slightly, her lightsaber falling to the ground. Ahsoka promptly joined her when Arkantos punched his arm forwards and sent her slamming next to Barriss with almost back-breaking force, her own lightsaber falling from her grip in the flight. Arkantos didn't release his Force-choke as he did so either, so she was more breathless than ever before now.

Barriss shook her head in a desperate attempt to clear it as Arkantos and Sanaki got to their feet. The Dark Jedi recalled their lightsabers with the Force and swapped places in the room, facing their new targets.

"Nobody is going to humiliate us," Sanaki growled as they activated their red blades once more. "Especially two girls like you barely out of their youngling years."

Ahsoka continued to hack and cough as she saw colours and stars dancing before her eyes, the life slowly being choked out of her. Barriss snapped out of her confusion long enough to notice Ahsoka's distress and hurriedly turned around to try and throw a Force-push at Arkantos to make him stop, but she was blasted by another blast of Force-lightning from Sanaki's fingers and pushed up against the wall beside her friend. Sanaki and Arkantos sneered, as the former thrust her hands further out and intensified her electric blasts and the other clenched his fists tighter.

Barriss' screams intensified as the pain swept through her, emptying her head of all thoughts but the terrible agony, flailing wildly all over the place and unable to stop herself from doing it. Ahsoka did the exact opposite and began to get quieter as she desperately tried and failed to free herself, her struggles becoming more feeble as she began to black out, her eyes rolling up into her head, while Barriss' were screwed tight shut.

"Time to end this," Arkantos said, as the two raised their lightsabers. "And let's not mention the bit where they beat us to Dooku."

"Almost beat us," Sanaki growled, refusing to admit she had been bested, and the two of them stepped forward to deliver the killing blows to their downed opponents.

But things turned around again incredibly quickly as a huge claw suddenly slammed through the collapsed side of the room and slammed into the ground between the two. Shocked, the Dark Jedi released their Force attacks and Barriss and Ahsoka slumped to the floor, both of them gasping for breath, one clutching her head and the other her throat. But the Dark Jedi had almost forgotten about them already as they dodged backwards when another claw tore its way through the wall and with a huge rent and the sound of screeching metal, the wall opened up like a giant gash and the head of the Force-sensitive Acklay forced its way inside.

It turned around and screeched at the terrified Dark Jedi.

The two of them still didn't know about the mind link that Ahsoka had to the Digimon. The moment things had started to go wrong and they cheated their way towards victory, the Digimon had alerted the Acklay and told it what needed doing. And now, here it was, saving the day.

Sanaki panicked and let off a blast of Force-lightning at the Acklay's face. The white lightning caught in full on and crackled over its head. The Acklay winced in pain, but when the attack was finished it still seemed almost completely unharmed apart from some wisps of smoke rising from its crest. The Acklay screeched and let off a roar as its throat began to throb. Then it demonstrated a _real _Force-lightning attack.

The humongous bolt of orange lightning that exploded out of the Acklay's mouth sizzled into the tight space and slammed into the ground at the feet of the Dark Jedi. The floor buckled and the room shook as the volts caused an explosion which threw the Dark Jedi backwards and into the opposite wall, crackling over the equipment all around the room and creating a miniature shockwave that pinned the Dark Jedi where they had landed. The Acklay finally relented and snarled at them, daring them to get back up as it tore more of the wall down to allow it easier access.

Behind its head, Barriss and Ahsoka were beginning to regain their breath, though they had been pushed back by the Acklay's strike as well. The two of them looked at each other, and felt a strong sense of unity, before they turned to see their rescuer. Both of them spotted their lightsaber lying beneath the Acklay's long neck and weakly recalled them back into their hands with the Force. Both of them slowly pushed themselves back onto their feet, leaning on one another for support.

Unaware of the actions of their former-opponents, Sanaki and Arkantos got back to their feet and hefted their lightsabers, glaring at the Acklay as it forced its way further inside. "We'll take you out too!" Arkantos cried, spittle flying from his mouth as he went almost feral. "We'll take out everyone who associates with Jedi!"

The two of them charged with intent to slice the Acklay's head clean off.

"No!" cried Ahsoka and Barriss at the same time and they felt new energy coursing through them as they found new adrenaline and powered forwards as well, using the Force to add speed to their run and then propel them through the air in low Force-jumps. Arkantos and Sanaki's attention was diverted from the Acklay and saw the Jedi pouncing towards them from the other side of it too late. The two young girls shot between the Acklay's too front legs and decisively ended the conflict.

Arkantos tried to block Ahsoka's blow, but her foot swung around and slammed into his hand, sending his lightsaber flying. The Togruta twisted in mid-air and brought her lightsaber slicing down, cleaving Arkantos in two from shoulder to hip. She landed on the floor as his body fell to the ground, panting for breath.

At the same moment, Sanaki backpedalled when Barriss lunged for her and caught her strike, but Barriss wrenched her blade furiously and yanked Sanaki's blade from out of her grip, whirling around on the spot and twirling her blade, before driving it home and plunging it through Sanaki's chest. The Vahla gasped in shock, and toppled over.

Ahsoka and Barriss stared at their fallen enemies for a moment, and then their eyes moved to one another before both of them simultaneously collapsed to their knees, throwing out their hands to catch them before they fell further and both of them panting for breath.

They had won.

But both of them had been forced to take a life to do it.

"Oh God," Ahsoka murmured quietly. "I killed someone who used to be in the Jedi Order. I cut him in two! I killed him!"

"We had no choice," Barriss panted, turning to look at her friend. "They refused to surrender, almost killed us and they were going to hurt our friends. They brought it upon themselves. They could have surrendered, but they didn't. We can't be held responsible for that."

"I know that," Ahsoka said, holding a hand to her forehead. "But... it's still a horrible feeling. How can people like Ventress and these people enjoy doing it so much?"

"I don't know," Barriss shook her head. "I don't know the answer to that." The two of them crouched there, gasping for breath and waiting for their hearts to stop trying to escape from their chests. Then Barriss chuckled weakly and said, "I told you that I'd watch your back, didn't I?"

A faint smile appeared on Ahsoka's face, and she pushed herself up onto her knees, flexing her fingers and massaging her throat as she did so. "Yeah," she nodded, as Barriss also pushed herself back up. "Yeah, you did. And I watched your too. Thanks, sister."

"Thank you too," Barriss said. They turned towards each other and pulled one another into hugs, resting their chins on each other's shoulders and once again leaning on one another for support. "Against all odds, we are victorious. We've won. We're still alive."

"I think that this was a good introduction to life as a member of our team for you," Ahsoka murmured into her ear.

"Is it always this rough?" Barriss asked as they withdrew from the hug.

"Barriss, my friend," Ahsoka chuckled as she gave the Mirialan a friendly punch to the shoulder. "You'd better get used to the excitement, because the answer is – yes. It is."

"Lovely," Barriss sighed. Ahsoka giggled.

A low, guttural growling noise behind them made them turn, alerting them once again to the presence of the Acklay, which had cleared a space in the wall large enough to fit its whole body into what was left of the tight space. The huge predator lowered its head towards the two, and Barriss couldn't help but flinch back – everything she knew of Acklay told her that it was about to strike.

Ahsoka, on the other hand, lifted a hand a petted the carnivore's snout. "Hey, big guy," she said. "Good to see you again." The Acklay merely responded with another slight growling noise and its three eyes shut. Barriss blinked. Was it... purring? Perhaps not, but it was making what appeared to be the Acklay's equivalent of one.

Ahsoka noticed and picked up Barriss' hand, placing it slowly on the snout of the creature beside her own. "Another thing you'll have to get used to Barriss," she said, "Is that we make the weirdest of friends."

"Strangely enough, I'd worked that one out for myself," Barriss chuckled.

The Acklay withdrew its head and turned awkwardly around in the tight space until it was side on to the two and then lowered its front half to the ground in a clear invitation to climb up onto its back. Ahsoka glanced at Barriss and said, "Well, who are we to refuse such an offer?"

"By the Force, this is weird," Barriss murmured as she clambered slowly and sluggishly to her feet.

* * *

Ahsoka's family were having similar reactions to Barriss. Once the Digimon knew that it was safe to go out once more, they had guided the three Togrutas outside, still dragging the remnants of the chains that Renamon had not been able to break off. Elu wouldn't let go of Catalin's leg as the remaining five Acklay crowded around the little group. All three Togrutas were shrinking back as they were regarded by fifteen Acklay eyes.

Renamon turned around and noticed their behaviour. The fox offered them a reassuring smile and strolled nonchalantly over to one of the Acklay, placing a paw on its leg and leaning on it casually. "You needn't worry about them," she said. "They're perfectly harmless."

"Actually, they're not," said Terriermon. "They are vicious predators that could leap on you, tear you to shreds and swallow you before you had a chance to blink, but they won't do that because these ones are nice."

Lopmon regarded Terriermon for a moment and then looked at Renamon questioningly. Renamon nodded, and Lopmon swatted Terriermon upside the head. "Ow!" the white bunny complained.

"Did you really have to tell them that?" his brown counterpart demanded.

"Momentai," Terriermon said. "I just thought that calling the harmless would be demeaning considering how quickly they trashed the place. Again."

"Where's Ahsoka?" asked Alina. "Is she alright? Did she make it out alive?"

The three Digimon glanced at one another for a moment, and all three Togrutas felt their stomachs drop. But then Lopmon smiled reassuringly and said, "Why don't you ask her yourself?" and pointed towards the nearby complex. The three Togrutas followed her finger with a frown, but then their vision was drawn to the side as the final Acklay stepped around the corner, its claw like feet giving it a gait that made it seem like it was on stilts. The other Acklay moved backwards to give it room as it pulled up alongside the others. And there, sitting side-on with their legs dangling between its first and second pair of legs were Ahsoka and Barriss, arms around one another's shoulders for support.

"Hello," Ahsoka's weakened state did little to diminish her smile this time. "Mum. Dad. Little bro. Are you okay?"

"Oh, never mind us, you silly girl," Alina ran over to them, forgetting her fear of the Acklay for a moment as Ahsoka and Barriss hopped off it and moved forward. Barriss released her grip and stepped back, allowing Alina to grab Ahsoka in a fierce hug. "Are _you_ okay? Are you injured?"

"No, I'm fine," Ahsoka smiled contentedly, as Renamon stepped over to take Ahsoka's place in helping Barriss to stay upright, though both young Jedi were recovering their strength quickly. "No problem. Piece of cake."

"Oh, don't lie to me, Ahsoka," Alina protested, stepping back but with her arms still around her daughter and examining her face. "What happened? You're not standing up straight?"

"I just got grabbed round the neck for a bit," Ahsoka shrugged. "I lost my air for a few moments but I'm fine, really."

"That's my girl," Catalin grinned as he moved in and hugged Ahsoka and Alina himself, little Elu squeezing in between his parents legs and hugging Ahsoka's legs and almost making her lose her balance as they were pulled together. "You have no idea how proud I am of you, but still, I hope you don't take it too badly, because it's my duty as a father, when I say – Don't _ever_ do anything as reckless as that again!"

Ahsoka smiled. "Yes, sir," she promised. "You have my word as a Jedi."

"Good," nodded Catalin. "That makes me feel a lot better."

"Your father is right on both accounts," Alina said. "No more stunts like this but yes, I suppose I am very proud. And we promise, in turn, to be more cautious next time somebody comes along claiming to have a message from you."

"Someone... oh, Mum," Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "If I have a message for you then I'll contact you myself."

"You were so awesome, big sis!" Elu gushed. "I thought that I'd seen loads of cool things from the last time, but that was the absolute best. I can't wait to tell all my friends about it! I have the coolest big sister ever. They'll be so jealous."

Ahsoka smiled and rubbed his head between his miniature montrals. "Well, I'm glad to hear you think so, little guy," she said. "And I assure you, if you're ever stupid enough to get yourself captured again, I'm throwing all promises out the window and coming to rescue you again, you hear me?"

"Yes, ma'am," Catalin grinned. And the four Togrutas shared another hug between them.

Barriss smiled as she watched the touching interaction between the Togruta family. She leaned against Renamon and turned her gaze up to the sky. She wondered if she herself had a family out there – she probably did somewhere, though she had no memory of them as was per usual amongst the Jedi Order. She wondered what kind of reception she'd get if she ever showed up on their doorstep. She felt a small sigh escaping from her. It was probably best not to think about it really, since she didn't know where to even start looking, except perhaps her species' home planet of Mirial.

"If you're wondering about your own family," Renamon seemed to read her thoughts, despite the fact she couldn't as they didn't share a mind link. "Then you should remember that while you might have blood relatives out there somewhere, you still have another family, and a large portion of it is right here."

"Right, of course," Barriss chuckled. "As you keep saying. How could I forget?"

"Well, we'd be a bit worried if you did," Terriermon smiled.

"Terriermon," Lopmon chided.

"Mercy!" Terriermon cried, ducking to defend himself from a swing that never came. Barriss laughed, and the sound drew the attention of the four Togrutas, who looked over at the other group of four.

"And," Renamon went on, loudly enough for the four Togrutas to hear. "If you are a part of the family now Barriss and you and Ahsoka are sisters in this group, that means that, in an obscure way, Catalin and Alina are your parents too. And Elu is your little brother as well."

"Huh?" Elu asked. "I have two big sisters?"

"Uh-huh," Lopmon nodded.

"Cool!" Elu cried. "And they're both Jedi! Yay!"

"Go on, Barriss," Terriermon urged as Renamon pushed her forward. "Join the family."

"No," protested Barriss. "They're Ahsoka's family so this should be... oh fine," she trailed off as Alina and Ahsoka accepted her into the group with cheeky grins on their faces which looked eerily similar on mother and daughter. Barriss sighed and chuckled, trying to ignore the tittering of the Digimon behind her.

When they broke apart again, Barriss sent the three Digimon a brief half-amused, half-annoyed stare. Renamon winked at her in response and Barriss shook her head. She activated her lightsaber and cut through the manacles still on the wrists on the family with it, the chains falling uselessly to the ground.

"Right then," Ahsoka said. "I suppose we should get you guys back to Shili."

"What? Already?" Terriermon asked. "We only just got here and you want us to leave already."

"Felucia is not exactly the most hospitable planet," Ahsoka reminded him. "It would be best if we left here as quickly as we could."

"Er, are you forgetting are large and loud allies all around us," Terriermon asked, gesturing to the six Acklay. "We only just met them again, and the moment we did, we demanded their help. We've got time to have a little fun, don't we?"

Ahsoka looked slightly unsure, but Barriss surprised everyone by saying, "Oh go on, Ahsoka. Let's just stay for another hour or so. I mean, how many other people can claim that they've hung out with a bunch of Acklay without having to run for their lives. Let's make the most of it."

Ahsoka glanced around and most of the Acklay were nodding, as if they liked the sound of that. So, she shrugged. "I suppose," she said. "It gives me more time with my family, doesn't it?"

"And it also puts off having to report to the Council on this for a while longer," pointed out Lopmon.

"Oh yeah," Ahsoka grimaced. "I forgot about that. Joy."

"Alright!" grinned Terriermon. "Who's up for a ride!"

"Me! Me! Me! Me! Pick me!" Elu cried immediately, to tumultuous laughter.

* * *

"WWAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!" Elu was shouting several minutes later, in a complete reversal of what he had been thinking before. The Acklay sure knew how to get about the place, and the whole group was being ridden by at least one or two people as they dashed through the forests, shrieking as if they were laughing with exhilaration, and Elu screeching along with them all the way.

Barriss couldn't shake that feeling of exhilaration either. This must have been quite an experience on Felucia several months ago if it was anything like this. It was amazing. She had an Acklay to herself and it seemed that no matter how many jerking motions it made, she was still extremely well seated. Nearby, Renamon was showing off by riding on the back of hers as if it were a hoverboard, while Terriermon was perched on the head of his and Lopmon's, while his sister stood behind its neck.

Ahsoka was laughing alongside her family as the three Acklay seemed to charge around willy-nilly, determined to give their riders the best possible time and enjoying themselves immensely in the process. They even thundered past the farming village nearby, and paused for a moment to wave to the tortoise-people within before they moved off on their way again.

But, after an hour or so, the Acklay came to a stop beside the shuttle that they had used for transportation and allowed everybody off. The giant predators were thanked profusely by all present and given one last rub on the snout from at least one person, before they turned around and dashed into the forest, presumably to find something very large to eat to restore their lost energy from all the running.

Things seemed to progress quickly from there. The trip back to Shili was not a long one but, true to form, the group walked with Ahsoka's family back up to the campsite, which was in the same place as it had been the last time so they could honour those who had fallen in the outbreak of the Blue Shadow Virus for some time before they left for fresh hunting grounds.

They found the village up in arms, but they relaxed quickly enough when they saw it was them. Elu was promptly swarmed by the other kids, as were the Digimon and Ahsoka. Barriss had a few moments before Terriermon mentioned she was a Jedi as well, and she promptly got surrounded too as a result.

There were a few more goodbyes to be made and Alina made Ahsoka promise to stay in touch more while Catalin asked her to send his regards to Aayla and the Tamers, and the other Jedi Masters that had come to their village to help them out in their time of need – Plo Koon and Shaak Ti. The group took one last look at Elu, who was demonstrating to the other children what Ahsoka and Barriss had been doing with a stick that he'd picked up and doing a very poor job at wielding it like a lightsaber (although his audience seemed perfectly enthralled nonetheless), waved their goodbyes to him and turned around to make the long walk back to the ship.

"Well, all in all, I think that went alright," said Barriss. "We saved your family, Ahsoka, we destroyed a bunch of droids and we took out a couple of Dooku's newest recruits for the Dark Acolytes team all in the space of one afternoon."

Ahsoka froze for a moment, her eyes widening in shock and fear. Barriss and the Digimon turned to look back at her with concern. "What?" asked Lopmon. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"I just remembered," Ahsoka swallowed and looked at Barriss with a haunted stare. "We left the holocron and the unused memory crystal back on Felucia."

Barriss' eyes widened. "Oh no," she cried, her hand flying to her mouth, where she promptly buried her face in it. "Oh, the Jedi Council is going to kill us."

"And Obi-Wan will be first in line," Ahsoka fretted. "We're the ones who asked him to get the things for us after all. Oh, we are so dead."

"How could we forget the holocron?" Barriss moaned. "How stupid can we be?"

"Yes, it was pretty stupid of you," Renamon chuckled. Barriss and Ahsoka turned to look around at her as the fox plunged a paw down one of her sleeves and slowly pulled out the small, glowing cube, tossing it up and down few times. "I picked it up from where that Dark Jedi dropped it when Ahsoka clobbered him." She flicked her arm up and the memory crystal popped into the open and fell to the floor where Terriermon caught it and grinned.

"We thought we'd wait and see how long it took for you to remember it," the bunny snickered. "And, as it turned out, it took you longer than we thought."

"That was mean, guys," Ahsoka scowled playfully as she summoned both into her hands with the Force and tossed the crystal to Barriss. "I almost genuinely thought the Council would murder us on the spot if we returned without them."

"Where would you be if we weren't here to pick up the pieces?" Lopmon laughed.

"Let's just keep going and thank the Force that you are," Barriss said. "The others will probably be getting worried about us."

The rest of the journey back to the ship was silent and, as soon as they got there, Ahsoka steered it upwards and out of the atmosphere, before jumping to hyperspace.

* * *

They zipped out of hyperspace above Coruscant several hours later, and with several sheets of paper scattered over the cockpit because Terriermon had somehow managed to get Lopmon and Renamon to play Pictionary with him, while the two Jedi just looked on in bemusement.

The ship made its way into the atmosphere and descended towards the Jedi Temple far below. Ahsoka steered it gently towards one of the landing platforms, but as they looked out of the cockpit window and down to where they were heading, they saw that, as per usual, they had a welcoming committee.

And it did not just consist of the other members of their team. A few Jedi Council members were also standing there, waiting for them.

"Ooh boy," Terriermon murmured as he observed the Jedi Masters staring up at their approaching vessel. "I think that we're busted. Then again, we were going to get busted for this sooner or later."

"You think Obi-Wan cracked and told them what we were doing?" asked Ahsoka.

"I doubt it," Renamon said. "They probably found out for themselves somehow. But, whatever the case, the worst we'll be in for is another lecture about going off and doing things without their approval. Although, to be honest, you would have thought that by now we're just going to do that when we feel like."

Barriss shrank back into her seat. "It might be another lecture like that for you, but this is the first time _I've_ ever done this sort of thing."

"Ah, you'll get used to it," Terriermon said, comfortingly.

"And while that might not be the right attitude, he is right nevertheless," Lopmon chuckled.

Barriss smiled and helped Ahsoka to ease the ship down onto the landing platform. Nobody wasted any time in getting off the ship, exiting the cockpit and walking down to face the music, as it were. Barriss had to resist the temptation to hide behind Ahsoka or Renamon as she was met with the stern stare of numerous Jedi Council members.

However, before any of the Masters could say anything, the rest of their team stepped forward to greet them. "Quite a welcome home, party, right?" Aayla chuckled. "But, disregarding that, it is great to have the lot of you back. And it looks like you kept your words and stayed in one piece after all. You had us worried for a few hours there."

"Worried?" Anakin asked. "I _hated_ it. Do you have any idea what it was like to just sit here and not have a clue whether my Padawan and all the rest of you was dead or not? Do you?"

"He's not exaggerating," Aayla agreed. "I can confirm that it was an awful feeling."

"Well, while I feel sorry for you, Aayla, I can safely say to you, Master, that now you know how we feel whenever you go gallivanting of to some region of the Galaxy on your own to face off against the enemy."

"Yeah, but the enemy has never set a trap just to kill me before," Anakin pointed out.

"True," Ahsoka said, "But hey, we're fine. Look at us." She slung an arm around Barriss' shoulder and gave them a thumbs up. "We're all good, right Barriss."

"Uh-huh," nodded the Mirialan, giving a faint, uncomfortable smile of her own. "Don't get too mad, Anakin."

"I'm not mad," Anakin said. "I'm relieved as heck."

"Go on, Ahsoka," Barriss grinned, unslinging herself from the Padawan and pushing her towards Anakin. "Feel the love here."

"Barriss!" Ahsoka cried as her friend pushed her into Anakin's arms. As the Chosen One hugged his apprentice, Barriss snickered, considering this a small form of payback for the surprise hug that she had shared with Ahsoka's family.

The Digimon had gotten themselves reacquainted with their Tamers while this was going on, but they saw the hug and all three went "Daaw." Then Renamon turned to the approaching Council members. "What are they doing here then? Did someone spill the beans?"

"We had to," replied Henry. "Master Windu came by looking for all of us. He said something about a mission to Malastare that he wanted some of us to partake in, and when he found out that you guys weren't there, we had to tell them what happened. It's just as well really, because the holocron you guys took had been discovered missing. The Temple was about to be put on high alert."

The Jedi Masters, including Mace, Yoda, Obi-Wan and Plo Koon, stared with disapproval at the group, although Obi-Wan also had a look of relief on his face to see that they were all safe. Mace was the first one to speak, focusing his eyes on the clearly uncomfortable Barriss and merely said, "Explain."

Barriss falteringly told the story from when they first received the transmission to when they confronted the Dark Jedi, to the Acklay's attack on the base and all the way up to when they dropped off Ahsoka's parents on Shili. She fidgeted and squirmed slightly under the severe stares of her elders, but she held her nerve and told the whole thing in studious detail.

When she'd finished, Mace sighed and said, "I suppose it was too much to ask that you would bring a little order to the chaos that is the A-Team and their team-mates, wasn't it?"

"I'm just one Jedi, Master," Barriss murmured. "I think you'd need a host to even come close to solving that."

"She'll fit right in," Ahsoka whispered to Anakin, and the Chosen One chuckled and nodded.

"Well, as I said before you left," Obi-Wan informed them. "We would have preferred it if you had come to us with this first, but I suppose we understand your position, Ahsoka. Innocent lives were at stake, and it would not be right to leave them there even if they had _not_ been your family. And since they were, well that makes all the difference."

"You're not too mad then," Ahsoka said, hopefully.

"A little put out, perhaps," Plo Koon responded. "But I do not think that I speak just for myself when I say that I am immensely proud of you, Little 'Soka. And not just because of the well-executed plan or your obvious skills with a blade, but due to the fact that you held your anger in check despite your obvious attachment to your family. More and more, I find that I glad I found you back on Shili all those years ago."

"Told you so, I did," Yoda chuckled. "Truly wonderful, this team of Jedi are, to not let their attachments get in the way of their purpose as Jedi. Time and again, see it, we do. Proud of all of them, I am."

Mace nodded grimly. "I believe I am getting used to it," he observed, dryly. "Though I am curious as to how much further they will go with these attachments. One of them will be getting married next."

Anakin balked and tried not to look guilty.

Yoda stepped forward. "To you Digimon, my thanks, I give. Through your unique abilities, able to protect members of our Order from deadly enemies, you were, on this mission. To your Acklay friend, thanks must go too. Hope to meet them some day, I do."

"We'll be happy to introduce you, Master Yoda," Lopmon nodded.

"To Padawan Tano," Yoda turned around, "My congratulations, you have. Grave, it is, to hear of the fate of Arkantos. A good Jedi, he once was. And truly remarkable, it is, that you were able to best him at such a young age."

"Well, I can't claim all the credit," Ahsoka said. "Barriss is the one who knew to lure how to best them, after all."

"Indeed," Yoda nodded and turned to the Mirialan. "My praise, you have, Knight Offee. Believe you are worthy of your Knighthood now, do you?"

"I suppose," Barriss shrugged. "I'm just sorry we were forced to kill those two instead of bringing them to justice."

"Yes," nodded Yoda. "But thwarted another attempt to rebuild Dooku's Acolytes, you have. Start searching again, he must. Well done to you all."

"Well done," murmured the other Jedi members. Barriss flushed and felt herself beaming at the praise she was being given.

"Thank you," she said. "But I think I need a good long rest now."

"Rest?" Aayla asked her, surprised. "Are you mad?"

"Yeah, you haven't done any dancing yet," Ahsoka grinned. "Come on, Barriss. Time to see what you can do."

"Oh joy," Barriss sighed, to a round of laughter from almost everyone.

"Group hug!" shouted Terriermon.

"Oh, not again!" Barriss cried, as she found herself immersed in one. She wondered how many of these she was going to get in the next week. But, then again, she was already thinking that she wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

And, back of Serenno, Dooku was still waiting impatiently for Arkantos and Sanaki to report back to him. But, as we know, they never would.

* * *

And there you have it, **Forcystus5**. I really hope that this was worth the wait. I attempted to hammer it just as firmly as if it were one of my own chapters and ideas, and I am quite proud of the result. It was quite a wild ride in my view, and I hope that you felt the same, as well as all the rest of the people reading this. You're all so loyal for waiting this long and being so patient. Now, if you haven't done so already, there's a whole host of chapters from my main story to read now as well. Have a good time.

Fergus Flamacron, signing off.


	10. What Lies Beneath

Heya everybody. I am back with yet another oneshot for **Movie-Brat**. It was his birthday early last month, but since I was busy writing my own story and wanted to get it finished, I could not really write this until now. Still, I hope that everybody likes it and I apologise **Movie-Brat** for any inaccuracies in the villains you chose for the story.

This story takes place after Runaway Locomon and ignores the plotline of my main stories, which means that Terriermon and Renamon are not mated, the bunnies did not find out they're siblings and they never went to the Star Wars world. It also features an iconic character as he was played by David Tennant. Hope you all like.

* * *

**Reviewer Requests**

**Oneshot 8:- What Lies Beneath**

**Rating:- T**

**Worlds:- Digimon Tamers, Doctor Who**

* * *

"Hey, Henry, check this out," Rika called across the shop as she rifled through the Modify Cards that she had just acquired from the counter. "What do you make of this new one? Kinkakumon. She looks like she might be able to do some damage."

Henry turned his head from where he was examining a few action figures based on their own Digimon partners, and knowing full well that Terriermon was going to start both bragging and claiming that his looked unrealistic later on, and moved over to his fellow Tamer to examine the card.

"Yeah, I got to admit," he nodded. "She looks pretty badass. Wouldn't want to pick a fight with her."

Rika chuckled as she continued shuffling through the newest additions to her deck. "What do you think the chances of us running into one of them at some point in the future."

"Well, since there's a card for it now, I'd say pretty high," Henry smiled wryly. "Every time a new Digimon card is created the Digimon itself seems to appear out of nowhere at the same time. Hey, can I have this pack please?" he pulled a shining packet of Modify Cards from the front of the counter and presented it to the man behind it.

"Of course," the shop owner smiled. "Special discount as usual, Henry."

"You know, you really don't have to drop the prices of your merchandise for us," Henry pointed out. "We've all got enough to pay for the whole thing."

"Nonsense," the owner shook his head as Henry handed over the money. "I'm quite happy knowing that those cards of yours will probably be used to keep this city safe at some point in the future. Besides, you Tamers are my best customers."

"Well, if you insist," Henry smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem," the man grinned in acknowledgement, before he turned to the back of the store to re-organise some of his shelves.

So far things had been pretty ordinary for the Tamers over the last month or so. Ever since that incident with the Runaway Locomon and the swarm of Parasimon which had followed on as a result, there hadn't been any sign of Digimon activity whatsoever. Rika had been pretty quiet in the days following her birthday, no doubt still upset by the memories of her father that the Parasimon had brought to the surface, but she had slowly regained her normal attitude and no, she and Henry were surfing through their main store looking for upgrades to their deck.

Terriermon and Renamon were no doubt close by, although neither of them really knew where their partners were at this stage. But they were sure that wherever they were, Terriermon was probably badgering Renamon to do something fun while the fox politely spurned his efforts in favour of keeping an eye on things. The rest of the Tamers were no doubt somewhere at home, relaxing. After all, it was Saturday morning, and they were determined to enjoy the break from school while it lasted.

"Oh, look at this," Henry suddenly grinned as he shuffled through his own new set of cards. "Ginkakumon. The two of them must be related to one another somehow."

"They don't look much alike," observed Rika as they held the cards close together for comparison.

"Neither do me and Suzie but we're still brother and sister," chuckled Henry.

"Good point," Rika snorted.

"I would have thought you two were too old to be bothering with card games," said a voice from nearby. It was a friendly voice, but it came so suddenly that both Rika and Henry jumped and looked up, their eyes taking in the sight of the tall, gangly manwith mid-length brown hair, leaning against one of the shelves nearby. He was wearing a dark brown, pinstriped suit over and white shirt and red tie, with a long brown faux-suede overcoat on top of the suit. His hands were placed casually in his pockets and he had a friendly smile of his face, but oddly he also appeared to be wearing a pair of bright white trainers that clashed horribly with the suit, but he didn't seem to notice.

He looked to be in his mid-thirties, so Rika snorted and said, "Spoken like a true adult. I suppose that you gave up card games years and years ago then."

"Whatever gave you that idea?" the man looked slightly offended. "Can't get enough of them myself, though I must say sometimes I struggle to keep up with all the different kinds and genres. I mean things like Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic: The Gathering, Gundam War, Duel Masters, Spellfire… so many to choose from so I never really no which one to start collecting and then when I do start collecting I always end up by cards from other games as well just 'cause I can't help it." He sucked on his teeth a moment and said, "I really must get around to sorting out my collection one day."

"O…kay…" Henry murmured slowly, not entirely sure what to do about this man who had suddenly walked into their life. "Well… er… how big is it? Your collection?"

"Oh, s'got a couple of million cards in it," the man waved a hand airily. "I could probably sort that out in half an hour if I had the time. Still," he added brightly without pausing for breath and moving around. "I'm not from around here and I was a little curious about this Digimon thing that you two seem to be interested in. I haven't got anything from that set and I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about it?"

"You haven't heard of Digimon?" Rika raised a brow. "Seriously? But Digimon's spread practically all over the world. All the kids are talking about it. Surely if you were such an avid card collector you would have got something Digimon related by now."

"Been away for quite a long time," the man shrugged his skinny shoulders. "Not been around much civilisation for a few… years. And I don't usually associate with kids unless they're about to get eaten by something."

"What?" Henry blinked.

"So anyway," the eccentric man beamed. "Tell me more about this Digimon malarkey. Ooh, I like that word. Malarkey. Ma-laaarr-keeee. I should use that one more often. Now, where was I? Ah yes, Digimon."

Both Henry and Rika had been completely thrown off pace by this strange man. Ordinarily when a stranger approached them it was to ask them to sign an autograph or something, and the Tamers generally treated just about everyone with the same amount of suspicion that people naturally gave to people they didn't know who suddenly came over to speak to them.

But for some reason this man didn't seem to unnerve them in the same way. There was something about him which made them both just… trust him. And neither of them could put their finger on what.

Almost before she realised what she was doing, Rika was explaining the basics of the card game to him, and he seemed to be absorbing everything she said like a sponge.

"Really. Six different levels and all increasing in power," the man mused. "Interesting. Seems like quite a complicated system. Does individual strength not play a role then?"

"Well, there are a number of stats that each Digimon has," Henry nodded. "Like all the Digimon in each level vary in terms of attack and defence, hit points and the power of their individual attacks. And there are also a ton of Modify Cards that you can use to change the stats of the Digimon you have in play to give you an advantage over your opponent."

"Interesting," the man murmured with genuine intrigue. "I heard that there were a couple of incidents involving real live Digimon fighting in the streets here over the last few months. You guys ever seen one?"

Henry and Rika glanced at each other for a moment. The question seemed innocent enough, but neither of them could be sure if he was probing into their affairs or not to try and get a glimpse of their Digimon partners. The man did not look up as he kept examining the cards, taking a pair of thick spectacles out of his pocket for a moment to get a closer look at the Kinkakumon card that Rika had given him.

"Uh… well…" Henry murmured.

Before he could say anything else, the man jumped as though he had been shocked by electricity, startling both of the Tamers as he reached into an overcoat pocket and pulled out a small, silver, cylindrical device with a glowing, blue tip, which was bleeping at him for some reason.

"Oop. Got another transmission signal. Gotta go." He dashed towards the door, wheeled around without missing a beat and dashed back to Rika to give her back the Kinkakumon card before darting back without pause and hurtling out of the door. Henry and Rika stared at him in bewilderment for several moments as he pointed the small device down either end of the street and then immediately dashed off to the right and hared away and out of sight.

Both Henry and Rika stared out of the window for several moments, wondering if he would re-appear and run the other way again, but when he didn't they both just ended up glancing at each other.

"What the heck was that all about?" Henry murmured.

"I have absolutely no idea," Rika shrugged.

* * *

A few streets away and a woman with dark skin and even darker hair was strolling slowly down the side of the road with her hands in her pockets and glancing around slightly nervously. _Great idea, Doctor,_ she was thinking to herself. _Send me out on my own to do some investigating, and don't bother telling me what I'm supposed to be looking for. Wonderful plan._

Her name was Martha Jones, and she clutched the slightly-psychic paper that her companion had given to her when she pointed out that she didn't exactly have any identification on her. She hoped that she wouldn't need it, but being in a foreign country in the present day without it was probably a very bad idea. And now she was supposed to be just looking for unusual activity, but where the Doctor was concerned, unusual activity could be anything from a slightly strange gas which humans couldn't possibly detect in the air to an alien dropping out of the sky and trying to eat you.

She wondered briefly what she would be doing right now back at home in London. There might even _be_ another her somewhere in this timeline at the other end of the world finishing her studies to become a fully qualified doctor. Her mother and father were probably arguing as her father's ditz of a girlfriend flounced around in the background and Harold Saxon was probably completing the final stages of his election campaign.

But at the moment, she was here, wandering the streets of Tokyo without a clue what she was doing.

She couldn't help but grimace slightly, as she had a sudden feeling that her predecessor, Rose Tyler, might be stuck to the Doctor's side like glue at this moment, following his every move. But of course, she wasn't. She was on her own while the Doctor was off doing his own thing.

She sighed. It was times like this where she thought the Doctor took her to these places just to fill the void that this Rose left behind. But she didn't want to be a void-filler. She wanted to _mean_ something to him.

Lost in thought as she was, she completely failed to notice the little white creature that was standing on the dustbin in front of her and staring at her with large, green eyes until she walked up next to it and it said, "You look sad."

Martha yelped and backpedalled, but on seeing the small, harmless-looking and frankly quite cute little being with the purple-tipped feet and ear projections and a small red symbol in the middle of his forehead, she stopped and stared at him in astonishment.

"I don't like it when people are sad," the small creature whimpered. "It makes me feel sad too."

Martha was tempted to ask it what it was, but she managed to change the first word so that she ended up saying, "Who are you?"

"I'm Calumon," the creature replied, and then its little face suddenly burst into a broad smile and its ear projections shot outwards so it looked like it had small wings on the side of its head. "Hey! I've got an idea! Let's make you not sad instead. You wanna play tag?"

"Er…" Martha blinked at the sudden excitement from the tiny Calumon. "I… er…"

"Go on, it's loads of fun!" Calumon cried, bounding off the bin and tapping Martha on the arm with his tiny palm. "TAG! You're it! Now you've gotta catch me!" He immediately turned round and shot away, bouncing like a rubber ball down the street. Martha stared after him for several seconds before she realised that this might be the unusual thing that the Doctor had been talking about, as she had certainly not seen anything like this creature before.

"Hey! Hey, wait up!" she cried as she ran after it.

"Yay! We're having fun now right!"

"Wait!"

"Can't stop! You've gotta catch me first!"

And so the chase began as Martha ran through the streets, desperately trying to keep the lively creature in sight as it continued to bound away.

* * *

The weird incident in the shop now past them, Henry and Rika stepped out of the doors and began to walk down the street towards the park, where they had agreed to meet up with some of the other Tamers at their usual spot by the old hideout that had belonged to Guilmon a long time ago.

"I'm guessing that you intend to challenge Ryo to another card battle the moment you next see him, right?" Henry asked with a chuckle.

"You know it," nodded Rika with a smirk. "And this time I think I might have the upper-hand on him."

"That's what you said last time," Henry snorted. "And the time before that. And the time before that."

"I'll have you know that I _won_ the game two challenges ago," Rika glared at him.

"Yes, by the skin of your teeth," Henry chuckled.

Rika elbowed him in the side. "Hmph. Well, we'll see how the game plays out this time now that I've got…"

A loud clattering sound erupted from the side-street that they were just walking by, causing both the Tamers to come to a sudden halt and looked to the right. The street was dark and narrow – exactly the sort of place that anybody with any sense would stay away from. But, of course, Rika was overcome by curiosity and she immediately stepped towards the street to peer into the darkness.

"Rika," Henry grabbed her shoulder quickly. "What are you doing?"

"Checking out what that noise was of course," Rika shrugged him off. "What the matter Henry? You lost your sense of adventure?"

"I'd rather stay back and evaluate situations even before we put our noses where they don't belong," Henry replied evenly. "That could have been anything from a cat knocking over a bin to a drunkard falling over a box and neither of those are good reasons to go plunging into a dark alleyway."

"We've survived worse than a drunk," shrugged Rika. "Besides, I just called Renamon. She says that she and Terriermon are not far off and are on their way. Now let's just have a look."

"But…" Henry started but Rika had already entered the street and was creeping along the side of the wall. Henry sighed and glanced to either side before following behind her, his body tense as he prepared to grab the other Tamer and split the moment something unsavoury happened. Assuming that something happened at all that is.

The two of them crept deeper into the side-street, peering around the old bins and piles of junk that cluttered the area. The whole place was dank and smelly and Henry was currently wishing that Rika's sense of adventure was much less pronounced that it clearly was and resolved to clean his shoes later.

Eventually Rika came to a sudden stop and Henry almost bashed into her. "Whoa," the redheaded Tamer murmured as she stepped back. Henry shifted around her to discover that she had narrowly avoided putting her foot down an uncovered manhole in the middle of the street. The cover itself was lying several feet away, propped up against the wall of one of the buildings.

"That's weird," Henry murmured. "Why would anyone leave a manhole in a street like this uncovered?"

"Probably some bum thinking it might be funny for someone to step down it and break their leg," Rika growled.

"Wait a minute, do you reckon it was that cover that caused that clattering noise?"

"If it did then that means somebody would have had to have thrown it," Rika rolled her eyes. "Manhole covers don't just pop up of their own accord, Brainiac."

"Yes, I am aware of that," Henry rolled his own eyes. "I was kinda implying that if that was the case we might not be…"

Both of them jumped almost completely out of their skins as a sudden large figure stepped away from the wall with a loud, thudding noise and filled the alleyway in front of them – a figure that had been previously hidden in the shadows somehow despite its large size. As it stepped forwards towards them, both Henry and Rika froze in shock and fear. It had the appearance of a man, but it was completely made of metal, like a robot, and on top of its head were large bars that extended horizontally outwards from the top and then bent vertically downwards to join with the side of the head.

It stared at them with round, blank eyes, the two Tamers rooted to the spot under its gaze, and then it slowly and mechanically lifted up a hand and moved to grasp Rika in its metallic palm.

Suddenly a hand seized Henry back of the shirt and a voice cried "OUT! OUTOUTOUTOUTOUTOUT!" as the hand pulled him backwards. Henry had the presence of mind to grab Rika in the same way even as he was hauled backwards himself, pulling the fiery haired Tamer out of the way so the robot thing grasped only at thin air. Henry was whirled around and spurred past their saviour, and as the Tamers ran passed they both saw, to their amazement, that it was the same brown-haired man from the store.

"What the…" Henry gasped. "You…!"

"RUN!" the man yelled, pushing them both in front of him as he dashed down the alleyway. The metallic man immediately stomped after and as Rika glanced backwards, she saw that it was not alone. There were two of them marching after them with a stiff but swift gait, one slightly behind and to the side of the other.

The brown-haired man immediately whirled around, spurring the Tamers ahead of him and pointed the small device with the blue light upwards towards the sky, activating the light and causing it to let off a strange, high-pitched whistling noise. For some reason, this seemed to cause a large, rusty fire escape to come loose from its moorings in the wall and tumble downwards, filling the street behind them and partially landing on the first of the two metal men. Then the man turned back around and dashed after the kids.

Henry and Rika burst out into the light and whirled around to see the man erupt out behind them and grab them both by their shoulders. "Who…" Rika started, but the man forced them to the side with a cry of, "I've slowed them down but that won't stop them! Get out of the way!"

A mere second after the three of them were out of the line of the alleyway, the fire escape was catapulted outwards and into the street, smashing through the spot where they had been and crashing to a stop in the road. The man whirled around, putting himself in front of the Tamers as the two metal men stepped out and stiffly turned around to face them.

One of them spoke in in a low, metallic droning voice. "Scans indicate binary-vascular system! Face not recognised in database but logic concludes you must be the Doctor."

"So nice to be recognised," the man murmured darkly.

"You will be terminated forthwith," the robot thing said as they stepped forwards again with their hands outstretched again.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," growled a female voice off to the left, and all heads turned to see Renamon had appeared, standing on top of the busted fire escape. Her eyes were narrowed and before the metal men could do anything about it, she had suddenly leapt upwards and cried, **"DIAMOND STORM!"** throwing out her arms to generate a large horde of diamond shards which lashed down towards the two metal creatures.

They embedded themselves in the metal hides and Renamon landed with a smirk on her face, expecting them to keel over where they stood. She was rather surprised when instead they turned to face her fully and laser guns sprouted out of the sides of their arms to focus on her and fire, forcing her to catapult herself into a backflip to avoid the red blasts, which practically obliterated the fire escape.

"It didn't work," Rika gasped. "Why didn't that work?"

"They're tougher than they look," Henry murmured.

Something white and green suddenly shot overhead and Terriermon cried downwards as he circled around, "Then let's try a little brute force, Henry! Give me a boost!"

"Right," Henry nodded, whipping out a card and slashing it through the slot. "Digi-modify! Thor's Hammer Activate!"

Terriermon smirked as the enormous metallic weapon of Zudomon appeared in his arms, so large he didn't even look capable of lifting it. But he swooped downwards, dodging a laser which blasted in his direction and heaving the massive hammer at the first of the two men. The blow was so heavy that the metal man's face was smashed and its head was knocked clean off, revealing sparking wires where the neck had once been as the body collapsed to the floor. The second man turned to point its own gun at Terriermon, but Renamon whipped overhead and span about in mid-air to deliver a graceful Power Paw to the side of its own head and knock that off too.

As the two dead things collapsed to the ground, the two Digimon landed gracefully next to one another. "Well, that wasn't so hard," Terriermon observed brightly.

"Perhaps," Renamon murmured. "But I, for one, would like to know what those things were."

"I didn't get the opportunity to scan them with my D-Arc," Rika shrugged. "Still, at least we beat them."

"They were not Digimon, Rika," Renamon shook her head.

"They weren't?" Rika blinked.

"You see their bodies and heads disappearing into a cloud of data?" Terriermon pointed out, hopping up onto the chest of one of the metal men.

"Well… if they weren't Digimon…" Henry gasped. "Then does that mean they're genuine robots?"

"Not robots," the brown-haired man said tightly. "Cybermen. They're called Cybermen."

"Who are you?" Renamon growled, scrutinising the stranger suspiciously.

"That's pretty much what I was wondering actually," Rika folded her arms and glared at the man. "'Cause the way I heard it, those two things knew who you were."

"That's true," Henry nodded. "They called you a doctor?"

"Not a doctor," the man shook his head. "I'm The Doctor."

"Doctor Who?" Terriermon asked.

"Why does everybody ask me that?" the Doctor sighed. "I'm just the Doctor."

"The Doctor?" Rika frowned.

"Yes, I'm The Doctor. That's me, hello, hooray. But right now we've got bigger things to worry about like what are a pair of Cybermen doing here in the city of Tokyo? Cybermen from _your_ universe no less. I followed the signal the TARDIS was giving me here expecting it to have something to do with you Digimon or some remnants of that D-Reaper program and instead I find two Cybermen from the planet Mondas about to attack a pair of Tamers. And come to think of it, what the heck were you two doing in that alleyway? I would have thought that a pair of Digimon Tamers would have had more sense?"

"Planet Mondas?" Rika asked. "Aliens? You're kidding, right?"

"I don't joke about this kind of thing. Well, mostly not. Well, occasionally not. Well, never when the situation is urgent like this one most definitely is. In fact, why am I standing here babbling about this? Yes, they're alien and yes, they're not friendly, but right now we've got bigger concerns. Has there been any unusual activity lately that might be linked to extra-terrestrial activity?"

"No… nothing…" Henry started, but the Doctor interrupted him.

"Then we have to assume that the Cybermen have been here for a while living under this city, and if I know them at all which I unfortunately do then those two will not have been the only ones and they will have been gathering intelligence for a while, specifically on anything that might be a threat to them like you Tamers. And now that they've seen you with me things can only get worse."

"But they're dead," Terriermon pointed out.

"Cybermen have the ability to broadcast what their eye-receptors see to screens and other Cybermen," the Doctor replied "If there are others and trust me, there will be, they know about this already."

"Wait a minute…" Rika tried, but she was cut off too.

"Hey, you kid, what's your name," the Doctor pointed at Henry.

"Um… Henry Wong… but…"

"Where do you live, Henry?"

"A… a couple of streets away in…"

"Right then, go home, gather your family and get them out of the house! The Cybermen will have been keeping tabs on you for a while and they'll probably try and kidnap your families to use as bargaining chips for a surrender, and then get clear of the buildings. Go!"

"But…!"

"Do it, Henry," Renamon suddenly interrupted. "I believe that he might be telling the truth."

"Hurry," agreed Rika. "We'll meet at Guilmon's hideout."

The urgency of the situation snapped into Henry's head and he murmured, "Alright. Come on Terriermon."

"Way ahead of you," Terriermon cried as he launched himself into the air and hurtled down the street towards Henry's house, his Tamer dashing along after him.

"That means my family are probably in danger too," Rika breathed. "Renamon!"

"Got it!" Renamon nodded.

"Wait," the Doctor cried. "Let me come with you."

"I don't think so," Rika growled. "You're the one who got us into this mess."

"This mess was going to happen sooner or later anyway," the Doctor countered. "And you might have been less prepared for it. I can help, if you'll let me."

"We should let him come, Rika," Renamon spoke out before Rika could object again. "He seems to know these creatures whereas we don't. His help in stopping them might be invaluable and we do not have the time to stop and argue."

Rika hesitated, but only for a second. "Fine," she murmured. "You can come. Renamon, prepare for an upgrade. Digi-modify! Digivolution activate!"

Renamon sprang into the air and yelled **"RENAMON DIGIVOLVE TO…"**

She dropped down to the ground, landing on all fours as she shifted into her Champion form, sprouting eight extra tails and her body shifting into an even sleeker and more streamlined form with flaming paws and tail-tips. **"KYUBIMON!"**

Despite everything, the Doctor's face lit up with almost boyish delight. "Oh, now that is stunning. And I mean that straight from the hearts! Oh, I've been imagining what digivolution must look like but that was brilliant – way better than anything I could have thought up and I've seen quite a lot of things. Just look at you… you're absolutely beautiful."

"Why, thank you." Kyubimon chuckled.

"Hello?" Rika cried as she bounded onto her Digimon's back. "Serious situation here! Mother and grandmother in danger!"

"Right, yes," the Doctor nodded, haring up beside the Digimon and whipping himself onto her back behind the young girl. "Allons-y!"

Kyubimon lurched forwards with such speed that the Doctor was almost thrown off, but he gripped her fur tightly as she flung herself down the road and towards the Nonaka household. He had to stop himself from whooping in delight as they whirled round a corner, and he realised there were few things in the entire Galaxy as thrilling as riding on a Digimon.

"Wait a minute," Rika blinked. "Did you say _hearts_? As in more than one?"

"I'll explain it later," the Doctor replied immediately as Kyubimon threw herself out into the traffic.

* * *

Suzie Wong was currently pulling the little pink dress off one of her life-size baby dolls with a wide smile of her face while Lopmon eyed her apprehensively from nearby, slightly concerned that the next thing that dress was going to be put on was her herself. The majority of the Wong family, including Janyu who was not a work due to the fact that it was a weekend, were gathered around the table eating a light lunch of sandwiches.

"Say, Suzie," Janyu looked up from his plate. "Weren't you supposed to be going and meeting with your other Tamer friends soon?"

"Yes," Lopmon replied immediately, looking for any outlet that might enable her to escape the coming dress-up games. "We really should be on our way, Suzie. We were supposed to be meeting Henry and the others… in about half an hour… but you never know – something interesting might be happening now."

"Don't wowwy, we'll get there on time," Suzie smiled. "But I want to see what Lopmon looks like when she's in this dwess. It's so pwetty."

"Oh no," Lopmon sighed as Suzie approached her with the clothes. "But Suzie, I've already worn that one three times, haven't I?"

"Yeah, but you look sooo cute," Suzie beamed. "Now let's put it on again."

_Whenever she puts that dress on me, the diaper usually follows,_ Lopmon groaned inside her head, but as usual she merely held up her ears submissively, not wanting to hurt her partner's feelings.

"We've got trouble!" her saving grace cried as Terriermon shot in through the open balcony door and landed in the middle of the table, scattering plates. "We've got some _serious_ trouble guys. As in the we've-got-to-leave-right-now-or-we're-in-even-worse-trouble trouble."

"Terriermon," Mayumi Wong frowned. "Look at the mess you're making."

"Mess? You… who cares about mess! Did you not hear what I just said?"

"What kind of trouble, Terriermon?" Lopmon asked immediately.

"Henry and Rika were just attacked by a couple of metal men who looked a lot like robots but actually weren't," Terriermon replied. "We managed to stop them but apparently there might be more coming to get you guys, so let's go already!"

"Terriermon, if this is one of your weird jokes, then…" Jaarin started, but then Henry burst in through the door.

"He's not joking," he cried. "You have to believe him! We're all in danger here and we need to get out of here now!"

Janyu reacted immediately, knowing that Henry would never willingly collaborate with a prank like this and he rose to his feet. "Alright," he said. "Let's move!" He swiftly grabbed Jaarin and Rinchei and steered them towards the door, while Lopmon and Terriermon took to the air and swooped past them and into the corridor, taking point as the Wong family dashed down the stairs and towards the main entrance of the building.

And not a moment too soon. Confused and scared, the whole family burst out into the street just as a pair of Cybermen stepped out from the alleyway next to the building and slowly turned round to face them. Suzie and Jaarin screamed and hid behind their parents, and Janyu gasped in astonishment.

But Terriermon leapt into motion straight away and Lopmon followed after him, grabbing each other by the ear and yelling **"TWIN CYCLONE!" **slamming into the front of the Cybermen and sending them hurtling backwards with huge dents in their chests, collapsing to the floor as they did so.

"Run!" shouted Lopmon as Henry and Janyu quickly shepherded the rest of the family across the street while the two Cybermen struggled to get back to their feet. Both the bunnies sprang forwards again, this time with their individual tornado attacks, ramming themselves into the heads of the metal men to knock them off, before they turned and wheeled after their Tamers.

"Head for the park!" Henry shouted as he fished his phone out of his pocket to call the other Tamers. "We'll meet up with the others there!"

* * *

Rumiko Nonaka was less fortunate than the Wong family. The first she became aware of the situation was when she was moving to answer the ringing phone, assuming it was her daughter or her agent to give her an update on something, when the door suddenly exploded inwards next to her in a shower of wood and paper. She shrieked as the force threw her off her feet and caused her to smack her head against the table leg.

She looked up blearily in time to see the metallic figure of another Cyberman step into her kitchen, looking down towards her and starting forwards menacingly. She sight alone was enough to spur her into motion and she screamed, rolling away and darting into the corridor to the rest of the house, barely evading the Cyberman's metal fingers.

"Mother!" Rumiko cried, darting towards Seiko's room and wrenching the door open. "We have to…" she gasped when she saw that the room already had two other metal humanoids inside it, one of which had a tight grasp on Seiko's shoulder in one hand and her mouth in the other, while the second was standing just behind the door and promptly seized her by the wrist and pulled her inside to clamp a hand around her neck.

"You are the biological predecessor of Tamer Rika Nonaka," the metal man droned. "Subject had been spotted in the company of the Doctor. You will be taken as hostage leverage and then converted."

Rumiko hacked as the tight metal hand caused her to black out slightly and the third Cyberman closed in behind her. But before it could reach her, Kyubimon sprang clean over the garden wall like a yellow, flaming comet and landed smoothly with four legs splayed.

"Get down!" Rika cried to the Doctor as Kyubimon's tails began to blaze.

"Yes ma'am!" the Doctor cried and ducked his head low.

"**FOX TAIL INFERNO!"** Kyubimon roared and slammed the Cyberman with a barrage of nine small fireballs that exploded on contact and hurled it straight through the wall to crash through Rika's bedroom and out of sight. Rika and the Doctor immediately jumped off Kyubimon and the young girl started forwards, with the older man straight after her as they bounded into the room where the other two were

"Mum! Grandma!" she shouted.

"Halt!" the Cyberman droned as both of them backed to the other side of their room with their helpless captives held right in front of them. "Or we shall terminate our prisoners."

"Release them at once!" the Doctor yelled. "They are not part of this, Cybermen!"

"You are the Doctor. Confirm, you are the Time Lord known as the Doctor."

"Yes, confirmed, acknowledged, established, whatever floats you boat. Now let those two go."

"Negative," the Cyberman replied immediately. "Stand down now or they shall die!"

"Rika!" Rumiko gasped. "Run…" the Cyberman immediately pressed the barrel of a laser gun to the side of her head, which shut her up and caused her eyes to widen in horror.

Kyubimon growled from where she was standing in the door, knowing that if she so much as moved, then Rika's family would be dead long before she could get to them. She did not like feeling helpless but in this situation that was exactly what she felt like. She flared her tails, looking for an opening, but she could not see anything.

"Wait! Stop!" the Doctor yelled. "You want me to surrender then fine! I surrender! Just don't hurt them! I'll do anything you want as long as you don't hurt them!"

"You agree to allow yourself to be destroyed?" the Cyberman asked.

The Doctor sighed through gritted teeth. "Yes," he murmured. "Yes. I agree. It is me that you want, not them! Release them."

"They will not be harmed," the Cyberman replied. "They will be taken for processing and…"

"No!" the Doctor cried. "No, they will not! That is my condition! If you kill me, then you are not to harm these humans or this Digimon in any way. That includes no death, no torture and _definitely_ no processing. They are to remain as they are, not become one of you!"

The eyes of everyone else widened in shock at the Doctor's words, but the Cyberman stared at him impassively. "The Digimon is dangerous," it stated.

"More dangerous than me?" the Doctor growled. "I don't care if she is dangerous, you are not to harm her. I will agree to do anything you want if you allow them all to live unharmed."

The Cyberman said nothing for several seconds again. "Agreed," it hummed after a moment and then pointed is laser gun at the Doctor's chest, while the second Cyberman took a grip on Seiko's neck and pointed its own laser gun at Rumiko. "Do not move and they shall not be harmed after your demise."

Rika was staring at the Doctor open-mouthed as the man spread his arms out and closed his eyes. She didn't even know this guy and he was already willing to sacrifice himself to save her parents. He was either stupid, mad or the most compassionate person that she had ever met. And she was probably going to go with option three.

As the Cyberman prepped its gun, the Doctor was internally thinking, _If there is a divine force out there, now might be a really good time to send another miracle my way._

"Terminate," the Cyberman stated.

BOOM!

The wall behind the two captors suddenly exploded inwards, showering debris throughout the room as a terrifying, snarling, raging dragon with four red wings and a metallic mask over its face tore its way into the room. Rika and Kyubimon started, wondering where the heck Cyberdramon had come from, but before anybody could react, Cyberdramon's had slammed his tail into the side of the Cyberman holding Rumiko and knocked it over, the shot from the laser gun going wide and hitting the ceiling, before pouncing on the one holding Seiko. He seized it from behind and fastened his jaws around the back of its head, plunging his teeth into the metal and yanking it straight off its neck to toss it aside.

The first Cyberman tried to get back up but Cyberdramon beat him to it and fell on him with claws and teeth in evidence, pulling the metallic limbs apart in the space of two seconds flat and scattering the Cyberman across the room.

He then span around again and roared, throwing himself into the air and hurtling towards the onlookers. Rika, Kyubimon and the Doctor all ducked in alarm as Cyberdramon shot over their heads, energy gathering his claws as he smashed through the doorway and fired a powerful Desolation Claw at the third Cyberman which had climbed its way out of the hole it had been knocked through earlier. The attack completely obliterated the metallic being and Cyberdramon landed with a thud, flexing his claws and roaring to the sky in victory.

"Is everyone okay?" Ryo asked as he pelted through the wall. "Cyberdramon said he heard a disturbance and he moved before I could… stop… him…" he paused as he took in the sight of the still-sparking Cybermen lying in pieces, the traumatised looking Rumiko and Seiko and the strange man standing next to Rika. "What happened here?"

"I'd quite like to know that myself," Rika murmured. "But, thanks Ryo. You sure do have a habit of showing up at the right time."

"More like my partner is super high-tuned to any potential threat," Ryo murmured.

"Pot-ay-to, Pot-ah-to," Rika shrugged. "Thanks anyway."

"Who's that?" Ryo pointed at the Doctor.

"A nutter," Rika responded. "But a friendly nutter nonetheless. All the same, Doctor Whatever, care to do some explaining? Those things definitely knew you. Who the heck are you, what the heck are they and what are they doing here?"

"I don't know the answer to that last question, but I'll tell you all on the move," the Doctor replied. "They're be more of them on their way here now and it would not be a good idea to stick around. Come on, let's go!"

* * *

"Units 1298, 1299 and 1300 have been terminated," a Cyberman droned from the shadows down in the sewers. "As have Unites 1064 and 1065. Attempt to stifle the news of our existence ended in failure."

"The Doctor is dangerous," another Cyberman agreed. "And the Digimon are powerful. Odds of defeating them together at full strength nil. How should we proceed, Cyber-Leader?"

Another Cyberman stepped out of the gloom and turned to face the other two. This one stood out from all the others in that the bars on the top of its head were black instead of silver, but other than that is was exactly the same in every physical appearance.

"Our plans face being compromised," it said. "We must ensure that does not come to pass. Awaken the Cyber-Army and close in on primary targets. We must accelerate our schedule if we are to stay ahead of the Doctor."

* * *

It took a minute, but eventually Rika and Ryo managed to get Rumiko and Seiko onto Kyubimon's back, and the whole group quickly moved through the gates and out towards the park. And then, the Doctor explained. "As I said before, those things are aliens from the planet Mondas, which was actually the twin planet to Earth before it drifted out of the solar system millions of years ago. The people who evolved there could only find a way to survive by integrating their bodies with machinery to cope with the increasing cold and harsh conditions, thus forming themselves into rudimentary Cybermen."

"Are you serious?" Ryo blinked. "We're dealing with _aliens_ this time?"

"Doesn't end there I'm afraid," the Doctor replied grimly. "As Mondas grew worse, the Cybermen eventually began to take on more and more robotic forms, until they've reached the stage they're at now. They're still living things, but they operate on logic and programming as a robot would. Any semblance of humanity has been completely removed apart from its brain and its central nervous system. They have no emotions and no pity, and their sole goal now is to take over a planet more hospitable than Mondas like… say… this one, and convert all of humanity into Cybermen themselves."

"Is that what they meant by processing?" Kyubimon asked.

"Yep," the Doctor nodded. "They were going to cut out your brains and put them into identical suits of metal. It's the same no matter what universe the Cybermen come from or how they evolved – it's always the same."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Rumiko retched. "Remove… my brain. Put it in that… hideous suit."

"That's about the size of it, yes. It's not pleasant, but at least it didn't happen to you. Tell me, has there been anything in the news recently about disappearances?"

"No, I don't think so," Rika murmured.

"Then anything about… say… homeless people?"

"I saw something once," Seiko piped up. "About how there seemed to be much less homeless people on the streets these days and some of our governmental representatives saying about how this was obviously as a result of their hard work."

"Yes, well I'm afraid your representatives might have been lying," the Doctor muttered tightly. "If it's anything like the last few times I've come up against Cybermen then they'll have been building their numbers by kidnapping people that won't be missed to convert them into more Cybermen."

"How many times have you seen these things?" Kyubimon blinked.

"Just wait a minute," the Doctor cringed as he tapped at his forehead with his knuckles. "Think, Doctor. Think, thinkthinkthinkthink. What could the Cybermen be here for this time? What might they want? What might their next… move… be… OH!" he suddenly shouted, making everybody jump. "The Digimon! You guys comes from an alternate reality tied to this one called the Digital World, don't you?"

"Yes," Kyubimon nodded. "That is where the majority of our kind live, but we stay here with our Tamers to defend the Human World."

The Doctor froze in mid-step, his eyes widening slightly as he murmured. "Exactly… how many Digimon Tamers are there out there?"

"If you include both of Impmon's Tamers and Jeri then there are ten of us," Ryo replied.

"You guys better get on the phones," the Doctor murmured gravely. "I don't think that your families are going to be the only ones in danger."

* * *

Martha was getting exhausted. She had been chasing Calumon around for about twenty minutes to half an hour, yelling at him to try and get him to slow down, but the tiny little creature was in a world of his own, mindlessly fleeing and constantly cheering and laughing as he bounded out of Martha's reach time and again, not listening to a word that she was saying.

Martha was beginning to get slightly fed up with the little creature constantly staying out of her way, and was just beginning to think that her time might be better spent just calling the Doctor so that he could use some strange alien contraption to catch Calumon himself, when the so-called game they were playing was brought to an abrupt halt.

By a large explosion that went off not far away.

Both Martha and Calumon froze, staring in the direction of the sound. It was not long before they saw what appeared to be a plume of smoke rising above the trees. Calumon abruptly gasped and cried, "That's coming from the bakery!" before he suddenly hurtled off through the trees towards the smoke. Martha was momentarily rooted to the ground, but when she realised that this might have something to do with the Doctor (explosions often did) she hurried after Calumon herself.

* * *

The bakery was a battleground, as the Matsuki parents pushed the few customers they had had at the time out of the door and hurried them into the streets and away, just as Guilmon was tossed over the counter and smashed through the front window, rolling into the street in a red, scaly heap.

"Guilmon! Get up, quick!" Takato yelled as he dashed out from the back room, a large Cyberman stepping awkwardly after him with hands outstretched. "You've got to get up! We can beat these guys!" Takato had received a call from Henry a few minutes ago, giving him a heads up on the situation, but he had still not been completely prepared for the metal men that had suddenly forced their way into his home. Fortunately, he had been able to warn his parents, allowing them to get the customers away, but that was about all he had managed.

Guilmon pushed himself to his feet as Takato hurtled out of the front door, only for another Cyberman to step out of the alleyway next to the bakery and try to seize him. Guilmon's eyes narrowed as he yelled, **"PYRO SPHERE!"** and blasted a large red orb at the offending Cyberman. Takato ducked down and allowed the attack to skim over his head and belt the alien in the chest, flinging it backwards with the sheer force of the blow.

"Yeah! Way to go!" Takato cheered. But he quickly regained his senses when the other Cyberman smashed its way through the door next to him.

"**ROCK BREAKER!"** Guilmon bellowed, dashing in towards him and slamming his heavy clawed hands into the Cyberman's flank and sending it spinning, sweeping around to knock its legs out from under it with his tail.

"Takato! Get back!" Guilmon snarled as another pair of Cybermen emerged from the alleyway with their guns very much in evidence.

"Yay! Yay! Go get 'em Guilmon!" came a cheering voice from the edge of the park, which turned out to be Calumon. Martha was standing next to the little Digimon and staring with wide eyes at the miniature dinosaur which was taking on the robot creatures.

_Alright_, she thought. _Definitely unusual activity, Doctor._

* * *

The bakery was not the only place that was alive with activity at the moment either. In the suburbs of Shinjuku, another Cyberman was sudden tossed straight through the wall of the front of a house with an enormous blast-mark in its centre to collapse into the street beyond, and a few seconds later another one came catapulting through the window, a large black-winged Digimon with a foot planted against its chest.

Beelzemon flared his wings and took off as the Cyberman fell to the ground and span around to point Berenjena down at it and open fire. The pink blast of energy that followed completely annihilated the machine life-form and the Mega Digimon dropped to the ground with a growl.

"Nobody messes with the twins!" he snarled at the deceased aliens and he turned back to the window where the two small children and their parents were staring out at him. "But we should probably get going. If what Henry said was true there are probably more of those things coming."

A loud clanging noise drew their attention back to the street, where they saw a large manhole cover had been thrown away and another Cyberman was clambering up into the road towards them. Beelzemon readied himself, but before anything could happen, Behemoth streaked out of nowhere and twisted side-on to skid over the manhole ramming the top half of the Cyberman before its legs had appeared and flattening it into the road. Behemoth quickly rose over to Beelzemon and presented its seat to him.

It revved its engine, which clearly meant in motorbike speech, _Want a lift?_ Beelzeon smirked and called, "Alright, let's move!"

* * *

"Oh no you don't!" Guardromon declared as he put himself between the Shioda family and their assaulters. The approaching Cybermen let off several lasers in the Digimon's direction, but the heavily armoured Champion took them on with ease and started forwards heavily, throwing forward a bulky fist which dented the chest of the first attacker and knocked him over backwards towards the other Cybermen, knocking one of them over and sending the other reeling.

"Yeah! You de mon, Guardromon!" Kazu grinned. "You show these silver losers who the real robot is!"

"It shall be done, Kazu!" Guardromon called as the third Cyberman lurched its way forwards and grabbed at the large Digimon. Guardromon brought up his hands to grab those of his opponent and the two of them pushed against each other for a moment, trying to gain an advantage over the other. Guardromon's eyes narrowed and he used his superior weight to force the Cyberman back and with a flex of his powerful robotic hands he crushed the metal fingers of the alien and tossed him backwards.

"**GUARDIAN BARRAGE!"** he cried, readying his attack.

"No!" Kazu and his mother both yelled. "Not in the house!"

Too late.

BANG!

Guardromon succeeded in blowing the Cybermen to kingdom come but he also practically vaporised the Shioda's living room and sent a shower of bricks out into the road.

"Oh man!" Kazu yelled. "What did you do that for, ye d…" He trailed off when the door behind them opened and several more Cybermen stepped in. "Never mind! Get 'em Guardromon."

"With pleasure!"

* * *

"**KAHUNA WAVES!"**

MarineAngemon whirled himself around and blasted more heart-shaped bubbles at a couple of Cybermen who were stepping after them out of the Kitagawa household. The large bubbles expanded and engulfed the large mechanoids, freezing them in place and vaporising their bodies, but MarineAngemon was not about to wait around for any more. He quickly hurried after Kenta, who was ushering the rest of his family ahead.

"Come on!" Kenta cried. "Henry said that those things might be coming after all of us! We've got to get to the park now! It'll probably be safer there."

"Kenta, what's going on?" his mother gasped.

"I wish I knew," Kenta replied.

"Kenta!" another voice yelled, and the bespectacled kid turned to see Jeri running towards them. "Are you alright? Did you get attacked?"

"Yeah, but we managed to get away!" Kenta nodded. "What were those things?"

"I don't know. I haven't see them yet – they didn't come after me. Or if they did then we left before they got there. You heading to the park?"

"Yeah," Kenta nodded. "That's where Henry said to meet."

"Your parents can find their own way there," Jeri said quickly. "We should check up on the others first and make sure they don't need out help. Kazu and Takato aren't far away, and I'm sure I heard an explosion from Kazu's direction a few minutes ago."

"Er… okay… See you later!" he called to his parents as he and MarineAngemon hurried after Jeri as she turned and ran in the direction of Kazu's house.

* * *

"Targets putting up stiff resistance," one of the Cybermen uttered. "Probability of overpowering them at current power level slim. Probability of success if digivolution occurs less than zero-point-four percent."

"Initiate phase two," the Cyber-Leader uttered. "They will not be able to fight us then."

* * *

Guilmon snarled and backed away as another pair of Cybermen stepped forwards. He'd already taken out six of them, but it seemed that they were just going to keep coming and coming until they wore him out. One of them blasted a laser at him, but Guilmon rolled aside and flicked the decapitated head of another Cyberman up at them with his tail to provide a distraction as he blasted out several more Pyro Spheres in response.

Takato frowned, wondering just how many of these things there were. He knew that Guilmon was strong and could keep battling for a while, but he was beginning to think that it might be better just to digivolved his partner and finish off the robots once and for all.

But, just as he pulled out the card to do just that, Guilmon suddenly roared in agony for no apparent reason. Takato gasped in shock as his partner keeled over, clutching at his stomach and clawing at his chest, howling in pain when there seemed to be absolutely nothing causing it.

"Guilmon! What's wrong?" Takato yelled, rushing over to him.

"Taka…to…" Guilmon moaned through gritted teeth. "Hurts… body… hurts… AAAGH!" he reared upwards and collapsed backwards against his partner and to the goggle-headed boy's horror, he saw his beloved partner's entire body suddenly fluctuate, as if his very data was apart to break apart. It was like he was on the verge of deletion and yet nobody had even landed a blow on him.

"What…?" Takato gasped but then the shadow of a Cyberman fell across him and with a swing of a heavy fist, Takato was clouted across the face and immediately knocked unconscious. The Cyberman grabbed him by the shoulder and turned around, dragging the out-cold boy back towards the sewers, while its comrades stepped over to the agonised Guilmon, the first one smacking him in the snout and sending him rolling over.

"Oh no!" Calumon cried. "What's going on? Guilmon! Takato!"

Martha bit her lip. She knew that she had to do something now, but what?

* * *

All across the city, the story was the same. In the middle of the park, by Guilmon's hideout, Terriermon and Lopmon both screamed in excruciating pain, doubling over and falling to their knees as they clutched at their stomachs, the former falling off the top of Henry's head to collapse by his female counterpart.

"What the…" Henry gasped. "What's happening?"

"Henry… make it stop! Make it stop!" Terriermon wailed.

"Oh, Fanglongmon, it hurts!" Lopmon yelped in unison.

* * *

Beelzemon abruptly bellowed from his place in the air above Behemoth as he brought his legs up and folded in his wings, causing him to plummet straight into the road and land with a crash on top of a car and roll off it and to the side, coming to rest against the side of a building where he shrank back down into Impmon.

* * *

Guardromon reared his fist back to punch the next Cyberman in the face, but before he could bring his fist forwards he let loose a yowl and collapsed straight onto his back, almost crushing Kazu in the process. Kazu gaped in astonishment and looked upwards at the Cybermen just as one of them stepped forwards to seize him by the throat and slam his head against the nearest wall, as the others stepped past the groaning Guardromon and made straight towards his parents.

* * *

"Kenta, where's MarineAngemon!" Jeri suddenly pulled to a stop and grabbed her fellow Tamer by the shoulder as he tried to run past.

"What?" Kenta blinked. "He's…" he looked back to see that the tiny Mega was not following on behind them as he had thought, and he frantically searched the street with his eyes, plunging his hands into his pockets to make sure he wasn't in there. It took him a few moments, but eventually he spotted the little Digimon lying in the middle of the pavement, little flippers wrapped around his front and whimpering.

"What's going on?" Kenta cried as he dashed back to his Digimon.

* * *

Not far away, Kyubimon suddenly howled and lost her footing, tossing both of her passengers straight off her back and sending them sprawling as the Champion level fox hunched over, eyes screwed shut and body shaking as it was wracked with pain. And she was not the only one – Ryo was flung straight off Cyberdramon's back as he lurched in the air, landing painfully on one shoulder as his partner spiralled to the ground with an almighty crash.

"Kyubimon! Ryo! What…?" Rika started, staring at the two Digimon in shock, as both of them suddenly glowed and reverted back to their stages, leaving Renamon and Monodramon shuddering and spasming on the ground as if several thousand volts were coursing through both their bodies.

"…the heck," Ryo finished for Rika as he scrambled to his feet.

"No!" the Doctor cried as he ran over to Renamon and knelt by her side. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! They can't be, they can't be, they can't be!"

"You know what's happening to them?" Ryo pressed as the Doctor scanned both Renamon and Monodramon with the small blue-tipped device. "And what is that thing?"

"It's a sonic screwdriver and yes I know what's happening. Digimon are composed of data aren't they, and the data of these two is fluctuating. The Cybermen must have found a way to broadcast a signal that deliberately disrupts the data of your partners, thus immobilising them and rendering them helpless."

Rika and Ryo shot horrified glances at one another.

"Ryo…" Monodramon moaned. "It hurts… so bad… ungh."

"How do we stop it?" Ryo shouted immediately, kneeling by his partner's side.

"I don't know," the Doctor bit his lip. "I'm sorry, but I don't know."

* * *

Guilmon opened his eyes slightly as he saw the Cyberman pointing its powerful laser directly at his head. Through the abyss of pain he managed one last growl, before a fresh wave of it overtook him and he curled into a ball.

_I'm sorry Takatomon,_ he whimpered in his head. _I… I failed you._

"Leave him alone!" a voice cried and out of nowhere Calumon threw himself into the Cyberman's face and started beating at its hollow eyes with his tiny fists. "Leave Guilmon alone you big bully!" he shouted almost madly.

His attacks had no effect on the Cyberman whatsoever other than to make it look up at the pestilence in its face. He lifted up a hand and swatted Calumon aside, causing him to crash painfully into a wall and fall to the ground like a little white lump.

Martha Jones dashed across the road, not sure what was possessing her to do something so dangerous but scooping up a large brick that had been knocked from the side of the Matsuki bakery and shouting, "Hey! Leave them both alone!" She hurled the brick with all the force she could muster and succeeded in striking the Cyberman in the face. The heavy projectile managed to knock it backwards a couple of steps, but it recovered itself swiftly and stepped forwards again just as Martha drew level with Guilmon.

Martha grabbed the dinosaur Digimon and tried to haul him away, but he was a lot heavier than he looked and she struggled to move him a couple of feet as the Cyberman stepped towards them. Calumon scrambled to his feet and grabbed Martha's jeans, trying to help pull and not really doing much in terms of assistance. Martha heaved Guilmon to the edge of the alleyway until the Cyberman and its two companions caught up with them. The leader stamped on Guilmon's tail, eliciting a fresh yowl from the Digimon and bringing the rescue attempt to a standstill.

"Digimon scheduled for termination," the Cyberman uttered. "Human female shall be taken for upgrading."

"Whatever that is, I don't need it," Martha cried, thinking quickly as the Cyberman raised their guns again. She hurriedly seized Guilmon by the sides of his head and wrenched it around to point it at the first Cyberman and cried, "Fire quick!"

Despite the cloud of pain, Guilmon caught on and responded, his mouth glowing bright red as the spat another Pyro Sphere which collided with the Cyberman's head and knocked it off. Martha quickly aimed his head a couple more times with the same result, until the three Cybermen were lying in sparking piles on the side of the road.

"Takato…" Guilmon groaned. "Must… find… Takato…"

"They got him, Guilmon!" Calumon wailed. "They took him down into the tunnelly things beneath the city that don't have trains in them."

"The sewers?" Martha asked.

"Yeah," nodded the little Digimon.

Guilmon hauled himself free of Martha's arms and crawled towards the manhole slowly, continuously stopping and shuddering as his data fluctuated again. Martha bit her lip and then finally decided that enough was enough. She needed to let the Doctor know about this now, so she immediately pulled out her phone.

* * *

"What?" Ryo yelled into his own phone.

"That was pretty much what I thought," Henry said gravely on the other side.

"What's happened now?" asked Rika agitatedly.

"Henry says he just received a call from Kenta and Jeri. MarineAngemon is the same but they can still carry him and now they're at Kazu's house. Apparently the place is a wreck, half blown-up with all the Shioda's missing. Guardromon's the only one still there. He's alive but badly injured and also in the middle of this data disruption."

"Great!" Rika growled. "Just great. You reckon those Cybermen got Kazu and his family."

"Probably," Ryo muttered. "What about you Doctor? Any ideas?"

"I can't just put in a new signal that will override the one the Cybermen are using with nothing but a sonic screwdriver," the Doctor grimaced. "It can't be done. If I'm going to get the Digimon back to full strength then we need to stop it at its source. Come on, Doctor. Don't be so thick! Think about this. Where could the Cybermen have set up something like this?"

Suddenly a phone in his pocket started ringing. "MARTHA!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, making everybody jump again. He whipped out the phone and answered it in a flash. "I really, really hope you've got something good for me Martha because I'm in a bit of a fix at the moment."

"Something big is definitely happening," came the reply. "I'm at a bakery that was just attacked by a group of strange metal men. The kid who lived here got taken but I'm standing here with this tiny white thing and this red dinosaur who's trying to call after the kid, but can't because he appears to be in agony for some reason."

"Oh… that's not good," the Doctor murmured, looking up at the Tamers with him. "Which one of your friends lives in a bakery?"

"Takato?" Rika blinked.

"Well, I'm afraid he's been nabbed as well."

"WHAT?"

"Doctor, what am I supposed to do. This dinosaur thing is still trying to get away and the small, white creature is in full agreement with him. He's bouncing around all over the place – he's practically gone hyperactive."

"What?" The Doctor shot to his feet as if electrified. "The small white thing isn't doubled over with pain?"

"Er… no… it can't seem to stay still…"

"What's his name? Tell me the creature's name!"

"Um… was it… Culumon… no, he says its Calumon."

The Doctor looked round at the Tamers and said, "Who's Calumon? What kind of Digimon is he? What makes him different to all of your own Digimon?"

Rika hesitated for only a moment before she reeled off, "Well, he can't digivolve, he doesn't have a Tamer, he doesn't have any attacks and he's at the In-training level…"

"TAMERS!" the Doctor cried. "Of course! Give me that!" he suddenly seized Rika's D-Arc and yanked it out of her hand. Before she could stop him, the Doctor had danced backwards and applied the tip of the sonic screwdriver to it. A few hasty modifications and a couple of second of buzzing later and both Renamon and Monodramon suddenly stopped groaning and looked up, blinking.

"Problem solved," the Doctor said brightly. "Well, mostly solved. And just one of many problems."

"What did you just do?" Ryo blinked.

"My friend just told me that your friend Calumon was not being affected by the signal like the rest of the Digimon were, so I guessed that he must be unique in some way. Then it hit me – your D-Arcs are constantly transmitting data to and from your respective Digimon, which is how you can use those cards of yours to give them upgrades like computer terminals. But the Cybermen must have found a way of transmitting another signal to the Digimon, using the D-Arcs as conduits so it would disrupt only them and not other data-filled devices… like their own computers."

"So you fixed it?" Rika asked.

"Er… well… not exactly," the Doctor grimaced. "You see… the only way to stop the signal completely is still to eradicate the source. What I've done here is place a firewall in Rika's D-Arc that blocks the signal and used interlinked system between them to transmit it to the other Digimon… but… well… without knowing the frequency of the original signal I can't put in a firewall that blocks out only it so… I've had to cancel out them all."

"All signals?" Rika's eyes bugged out. "Then… does that mean…?"

"Uh-huh," nodded the Doctor. "Until we can eradicate the original source of the signal… you won't be able to digivolve or upgrade your Digimon using any of your Modify Cards. They're stuck as they are until I remove the firewall, but if I were to do that now then they would just be filled with pain again."

There was a long pause.

"Well, at least it's something," Ryo murmured. "And at least we can fight back. We need to stop that signal completely."

"But we also need to find Kazu and Takato before they get turned into those Cybermen things," Renamon grunted as she pushed herself to her feet.

"I know, I know," the Doctor murmured. "But the best way to do both is to find their base of operations, but this is a very big city. Where could they be? Quickly, think. Even with the D-Arcs as conduits they would still need a transmitter capable of sending information to them, and those things are not connected to any random network are there. What facilities are there in this city that might be capable of broadcasting a signal like this to your D-Arcs?"

Rika and Ryo both answered at the same time – "The HYPNOS towers."

"The what now?" the Doctor blinked.

"Them," Ryo quickly pointed up towards the distant spires of the Tokyo Metropolitan Building. "That's where the signal must be coming from. That's where Yamaki and his team monitor the Digital World's activities. It's also where the guy who designed the first D-Arcs works."

"They don't really have any technology that can connect to our D-Arcs that we know of," Rika said. "But they have the closest thing to it."

"Then our best bet is that the Cybermen's main base is in the sewer system directly beneath those Towers," the Doctor nodded. "And if their plan is what I think it is… then we had better get there pretty quickly."

"Why?" Monodramon asked. "What do you think they're planning?"

"If that building has the facilities to connect to the Digital World," the Doctor murmured, "then the Cybermen may be planning to take control of it. If they were able to somehow to connect to the Digital World, which essentially acts like one enormous computer, and harness the raw amounts of data and power that it possesses… then who knows what they might be able to accomplish?"

"But what would happen to the Digimon in it?" Renamon asked, alarmed.

"They're part of the program," the Doctor replied. "It's likely that they too would be drained and possibly killed to feed the Cybermen's war machine."

"They have got to go," Renamon bristled.

"Doctor, I'm going after that kid," Martha said through the phone line.

"No, Martha!" the Doctor cried immediately. "No, don't! It'll be incredibly dangerous down there."

"Oh, like I've never faced danger before," Martha snorted. "That kid's the one in danger, not me. And besides, I've got a little fire-breathing dinosaur to protect me this time. I'm going and that's that."

"Wait…" the Doctor cried but Martha had already hung up. The Doctor groaned and said, "Ugh, why? Why do I always pick the ones who never listen to what I ask them?"

"Come on, Rika," Ryo turned around. "We've got to get to those towers and fast."

"What about those friends of yours?" the Doctor turned to face them. "The ones who found out that another of you Tamers had been captured? Can you tell them to meet at the bakery which your friend Takato was taken from?"

"Yes, but why?"

"Martha's right in that we need to organise a rescue operation as well," the Doctor explained. "If you organise the rest of the Tamers to defend those Towers, then I can follow the signal on Martha's phone and lead the other Tamers through the sewer system and towards the Cyberman base. We can then hit them from above and below."

"Alright," nodded Ryo. "Let's go! I'll call Kenta."

"I'll call Henry and Suzie!" Rika agreed as they ran off with their partners. "Bakery's that way, Doctor. And I hope to Fanglongmon this works."

"Me too," nodded the Doctor as he hared off in the direction that Rika had pointed, while Renamon grabbed Rika, Ryo and Monodramon in her arms and darted the other way, towards the business district and the distant towers.

* * *

Martha had to resist the urge to hold her nose and settled for merely wrinkling it instead. She had thought that the time she had walked through the sewers of New York in 1930 when the Daleks had been on the loose would be the first and only time she did something like this, and now she was walking past sludge underneath the city of Tokyo in the present day. It didn't get much worse than this.

The dinosaur creature, Guilmon, was walking in front of her and sniffing the air, while Calumon rode on her shoulder. Quite frankly, Martha had no idea how Guilmon was able to detect the scent of his human friend against the scent of all the foul waste down here but he was definitely moving with a purpose. He knew where he was going.

"This way," he murmured, running off down another side-tunnel. Martha followed, navigating a pile which contained things she didn't even want to think about as she ran after the strange animal.

"Pee-yoo," Calumon shook his head. "This place smells worse than those out-of-date cream puffs I ate last week."

Martha blinked but decided to ask about it. "How much further do you think it is, Guilmon?" she asked.

"We're getting closer," the dinosaur confirmed. "The smell's getting stronger."

"Tell me about it," Martha murmured under her breath. "It's absolutely horrendous. So, anyway, what did you say you creatures were again?"

"We're Digimon, which is short for Digital Monsters," Calumon grinned brightly. "Most of us have really cool powers that we can use to beat down our enemies or help others beat down our enemies, and we've been helping to protect the human world from other meaner Digimon for ages now."

Guilmon suddenly growled and he increased his speed, running straight through several disgusting piles of sewage and round another bend. Martha had long since lost track of how many bends they had gone round, but she quickly hurried after the angry-sounding Digimon and tried to keep up with his surprisingly fast pace.

"I think we're almost there," Calumon whispered.

They traversed several more large tunnels and bends before Guilmon began to slow and began to step forwards more cautiously and silently. Martha immediately slowed in response, recognising the need for stealth and the three of them slowly began to sneak along the tunnel until they reached the next bend. Guilmon slowly peered around that bend and Martha pressed herself close to the sewer wall and did the same.

The site beyond took her breath away. The Cybermen had definitely not been here for only a short amount of time. They appeared to have hollowed out a large section of the sewer system into a base of sorts. Several dozen Cyberman were standing in ranks in the middle of the room, in front of another Cyberman with black head-bars. Around the side of the room and into some of the tunnels beyond, Martha could see scores of more Cybermen lined up against the walls, looking dead and useless, but two of the Cybermen were moving around and flipping on a few consoles which caused the nearest inactive Cyberman to slowly come to life and step away to join its comrades.

In another section of the room, several computer terminals and screens featuring the footage from what looked like CCTV cameras rested against the wall, and beside them were several cubicles with open doors, and Martha shuddered when she saw numerous vicious looking instruments like buzzsaws and scalpels hanging from the ceiling in each one. And, standing in front of them and held tightly by more Cybermen were…

"Takato!" Guilmon breathed. "And Kazu. Both of them got caught."

"What are they going to do with them?" Calumon whimpered.

"Nothing if we have anything to say about it," Martha murmured back.

But then her eyes were drawn towards the largest section of the room, and that was the enormous machine. Martha could not make heads or tails of it – to her it just seemed to be a large mass of interlocking cables and wires, but whatever it was it had numerous pipes ascending upwards through the ceiling and it was humming quietly to itself. It was constantly being monitored by other Cybermen and there appeared to be another one sitting in a large metal throne at its base. This Cyberman also had black head-bars, but also had a black face. And it also appeared to be very damaged and was connected to the machine by an assortment of more wires.

"Who's that one," she muttered to herself, staring at the machine and the Cyberman hooked up to it.

Guilmon growled. "Takato. I'm coming." He immediately started forwards into the room, but Martha grabbed him and quickly pulled him back into the sewer corridor and out of sight.

"No, wait," she said. "Not yet. They're not hurting your friend yet so we can pick the best moment to do something. Besides, that guy over there is talking."

Guilmon shifted impatiently but he reluctantly agreed to wait, and the three eavesdroppers listened quietly as the Cyber-Leader addressed his troops.

"…take control of the towers above then we shall be unstoppable. Our disruption signal has proven effective, and the Digimon threat has been neutralised. All units will now converge on the HYPNOS towers and begin our invasion. Upon conquest, units will synchronise their technology with our own and begin power syphoning of the Digital World. We have calculated that its energy will be able to revive the Cyber-Controller and the rest of the army. We shall begin the conquest of Earth upgrade its human inhabitants to our superior design."

"You can't do this!" Takato yelled.

"Yeah, this is not your world," Kazu agreed. "Why don't you guys shove off back to where you came from?"

"Silence, child" the Cyber-Leader stepped around to face the three prisoners. "The only reason you have not been upgraded already is to provide potential hostage leverage if the Doctor learns of our location."

"Your world shall soon by ours to control. We shall remove all emotion and weakness of the flesh. You will all become part of our Cyber-army, which will grow with the awakening of the Cyber-Controller. Now, all units will head out and take the towers above for our own."

The Cyber-army that had already gathered immediately turned around and began to march of into several of the other corridors nearby in strict lines. Martha frowned as she murmured, "So we're beneath some towers? And I guess that machine there is the one that's broadcasting that signal."

"We have to take it out," Guilmon murmured. "But we have to get Takato and the others back as well."

"What are we going to do now?" Calumon whimpered.

"I'm sure the Doctor is on his way," Martha murmured. "The only problem is, I'm not sure he's going to get here in time."

* * *

The business district promptly began a screaming mass of panicked people the moment that the first Cyberman burst out from the sewer system and clambered out into the street. The pedestrians all automatically fled from the robotic creature, but many of them found themselves running into more Cybermen which were beginning to clamber up from other entrances and all along the road.

Through the confusing mass of panicked people, the Cybermen simply turned around to fact the middle of the street and the main entrance to the Tokyo Metropolitan Building. They had their orders. They would not both with the people as long as they did not interfere. They would be converted into Cybermen soon enough, but now was not the time for that. Now they had to ensure that they took over the HYPNOS towers and quickly.

They stomped down the street from both directions and from the opposite side of the towers themselves, and several of them began to emerge from just about right outside its doors. The staff in the lobby screamed as they saw the metal army converging on them and promptly fled the moment the first Cybermen reared his arm backwards, preparing to punch straight through the door and gain entrance to the practically defenceless building.

"**BEAT KNUCKLE!"** cried a voice from above.

The Cyberman looked up to see Renamon shooting towards him from above, having leapt a considerable distance from the roof of one of the smaller buildings. Rika and Ryo were both tucked under one arm, while the other had just flung Monodramon down towards the first of the army. The Cyberman's head was caved in by the surprisingly hard blow to the face from the small, purple dragon, his claws striking the metal with enough force to shatter the ground.

The useless Cyberman was tossed back into his comrades and knocked a couple of them over as Monodramon stood before the entire force with knuckles brandished, Renamon landing beside him moments later to deposit the Tamers not far away. "Get inside," she murmured. "It's too dangerous for you out here as long as we can't biomerge. We'll hold them off as long as we can."

"Good luck, you guys," nodded Rika as she and Ryo immediately ducked into the doors.

"Digimon presenting intermediate threat," one of the Cybermen droned. "Immediate termination necessary."

The assorted Cybermen began immediately pulled out several assorted weapons, including large handheld laser guns in several cases, while many of them had other weapons suddenly appear out of their helmets and chests. Renamon and Monodramon narrowed their eyes and separated immediately as the first shot was fired and the battling began.

Renamon bounded over to the nearest group of Cybermen and span herself around to avoid a volley of laser-fire from their chests, one shot passing through the tip of her tail but the rest of them missing completely. She seized the first Cyberman by the neck and slammed him into the one to its immediately right to knock them both down, landing on them heavily before she bounced up to kick the head clean off another one and punch another in the chest so hard that it went soaring backwards to bowl several other Cybermen over and onto their backs.

The nearest Cybermen on either side of Renamon immediately turned to face her and fired, but Renamon catapulted herself up into the air, which resulted in several of the Cybermen shooting their own comrades instead and causing them to keel over. Renamon landed heavily on the shoulders of another one to crush it into the ground and whirled about to seize the next in her paws, heaving it into the air and spinning it around to intercept the incoming fire of two other Cybermen before leaping up and kicking it down into the group with a graceful backflip.

Monodramon was not used to fighting in his current form, but he was certainly doing his best. He leapt up to pummel another Cyberman in the chest with his Beat Knuckle and slam into over, before falling to the ground and spinning about as laser-fire cracked into the road next to him. Scowling in annoyance, he flexed the wing-like projections on his arms and dashed through the legs of two more Cybermen with them outstretched, taking out their ankles with them in the process before he bounded up to another and land on its chest.

He then _bit_ into its neck.

This proved to be surprisingly effective against the Cyberman, because his Cracking Bite attack was designed fragment the data of enemy Digimon and cause them to malfunction, and it was essentially doing the same to the machinery parts of the Cyberman. It collapsed to the ground, shuddering and defunct, and Monodramon immediately took shelter behind it as more lasers slammed into where he had been. He then bounded out of the shadows and grabbed a fallen manhole in his claws, heaving it around and tossing it like a discus to slam the heads off another two Cybermen.

But then, another Cyberman stepped up behind him. Monodramon whirled about to leap at him but, with a swift and decisive motion, the Cyberman lifted up its arm to intercept him with its silver hand. A sudden electrical pulse surged out of its fingers and slammed into Monodramon, causing him to cry out as he went tumbling away to land with a crack against the side of the HYPNOS building.

"Monodramon!" Renamon cried, spinning around to stare in shock. It was at that precise moment, during her break in concentration, that she was hit in the shoulder by one of the lasers and fell to the ground with a yell, landing on her knees and clutching at her shoulder as the assorted Cybermen converged all around her. She grimaced and surged upwards to continue fighting regardless, but without the use of one arm she was severely hindered.

Which was what allowed one of the other Cyberman to grab her by the tail. She span around, but before she could kick or punch it away, she felt more electrical power coursing through her body, with so many volts that a human would have died instantly. She screamed and collapsed back into a crouch, and the Cybermen gathered around her to administer the final blow.

"No," Monodramon groaned as he pushed himself back up.

"Leave her alone!" cried another voice.

The Cybermen looked up again, and this time they saw Terriermon shooting towards them, Lopmon flying just behind him. The two bunnies crashed into the Cyberman with a grip on Renamon's tail and knocked him away, releasing Renamon from the electrical attack, and then the two of them whipped themselves into individual windstorms and quickly circuited the fallen fox, taking out the legs of all the other Cybermen in the immediately vicinity. Renamon pushed herself back up to her feet, fur smoking but still very much alive.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem. That's what friends are for," grinned Terriermon.

"Get back!" Lopmon yelled and the three of them immediately did just that as more lasers fell all around them. They launched their projectile attacks at the incoming Cybermen but their metal armour took them with ease. They quickly regrouped with Monodramon and stood before the doors as the Cybermen congregated all around them.

"No matter what happens, we have to keep fighting," Renamon growled.

"There's too many of them," Monodramon murmured.

"Not for me there's not," growled another voice. **"CORONA BLASTER!"**

A huge pink blast of energy surged in from above and slammed the frontmost Cybermen to dust and swept across the army, leaving nothing but rubble as it carved a line straight through their ranks. The Digimon all looked up with eyes wide.

"Beelzemon!" Monodramon cried as the Demon Lord Digimon winged his way overhead, with Henry, Suzie and the twins all held under one arm.

"So nice of you to invite me to the party," Beelzemon grinned.

"Of course!" Renamon almost laughed. "You don't rely on the D-Arc to digivolve do you? You could do it even before you got your Tamers."

"You got that right, Fox-face!" Beelzemon grinned as he landed in front of the group and dropped the remaining Tamers for the floor. "Now who wants to see which of us here has the best laser-gun, huh?" he yelled at the assorted Cybermen.

"Guys!" Rika suddenly yelled from the door. "They're coming up through the floor in here!"

The Digimon whirled around to see Rika and Ryo backing away from a growing splinter in the floor of the lobby, which promptly burst open to allow another Cyberman to climb up from within.

"You guys get in there and make sure none of them reach the stairs or the elevator!" Beelzemon roared. "I'll deal with this lot!"

"Got it!" Terriermon nodded as the four Rookies bounded inside to pile-drive the Cyberman as a united force and group around to hole for anymore, while Beelzemon leapt into the air and twisted around to avoid a fresh salvo of laser-fire and blast three Cybermen to shreds with quick bursts of Berenjena. The battle was on in earnest now!

* * *

At approximately the same time as the battle started, Kenta, Jeri, MarineAngemon and Guardromon were already standing by the mess that had once been Takato's bakery, waiting for any sign of their incoming guide.

"Where is this guy?" murmured Kenta. "Shouldn't he have been here by now?"

"Maybe he got lost," Jeri murmured worriedly. "Oh, Takato, if anything's happening to you…"

"Hello!" the Doctor yelled as he dashed out seemingly nowhere and made them all jump. "I take it that you're the group who's been waiting for me!"

"Are you this Doctor man?" Guardromon asked.

"Yep. The Doctor – that's me, hello. Sorry I'm a little late but I had to stop and do something but trust me it was important. Now, you – you're Jeri aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm Jeri," the young girl nodded. "And this is Kenta, MarineAngemon and Guardromon."

"Yes, I know but I'm afraid that we don't have much time. Jeri, I want you to listen to me carefully as this is very, _very _important but it's going to sound completely and utterly bonkers to you. I want you to take this key," he quickly handed her a perfectly ordinary-looking silver door-key. "Go that way two streets, then go left, take the first right and then the second left and you should see a large blue box with the words POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX on it. This key opens that box and I want you to go inside it. I want you to take this phone and then wait for my call and then follow my instructions carefully."

"But… what…?" Jeri protested.

"No time for either!" the Doctor cried. "Come on, Jeri. The fate of the city and your friends might depend on you doing what I say now, so please go and do it."

Jeri hesitated, momentarily torn between the Doctor's words and her desire to go and help Takato, but after only a moment she nodded and took both the key and the phone. "Okay, if you say its that important then I'll do it."

"Good girl," the Doctor beamed. "I should warn you though that the box is an alien spacecraft in disguise, and it is much, much bigger on the inside than the outside. Yes, I know that sounds confusing and impossible, but don't be surprised when it is. Now go. Two streets, left, first right, second left. Go, go, go!"

Jeri, bewildered and confused, but nonetheless resolute, immediately hurried off to carry out the Doctor's wish. The Doctor then turned to the others and said, "Right then. Into the sewers."

"Allow me," Guardromon said as he hurried over to the manhole and pounded his heavy bulk straight through the tarmac and into the large space beneath. The Doctor and Kenta immediately clambered down after him, and the former pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it down the corridor, zeroing in on the signal from Martha's phone.

"This way!" he called, as he dashed away with the screwdriver pointed ahead.

"I hope you know what you're doing!" Kenta cried as he and the two Digimon hurried in pursuit.

* * *

"It seems some of your Digimon allies are fighting against the troops up above," the Cyber-Leader turned to face the captives as another distant explosion rocked the base. "The Doctor must have found a way to disable our disruptive signal."

"Hah! That means victory is not yours yet, Robotboy!" Kazu yelled.

"Silence," the Cyber-Leader toned and another Cyberman guard yanked on Kazu's hair and caused him to yelp. "You are foolish, as are all your kind. Your smugness and your pain are weaknesses that will be removed once you are converted to Cyber-form. Your friends will not last long and we shall still take the city by…"

"Hello everybody!" a cheerful voice cried. The remaining Cybermen wheeled around automatically at the sound and the whole room beheld a small, white creature bouncing around in circles in plain sight right behind them. "You're shiny," it said.

"Calumon!" Takato yelled. "Run!"

"Identified as low-level Digimon, designated Calumon," the Cyber-Leader droned. "Threat level zero. You are inconsequential."

"I don't even know what that means," giggled Calumon. "You wanna play! Come on! Let's play! Let's play!"

He began to bound in circles around the legs of the Cybermen, who slowly revolved around on the spot, keeping their eyes on the tiny creature as they stared in mechanical bemusement at his antics.

"Your desire for play is yet another weakness," the Cyber-Leader stated. "Cybermen have no need for play. We shall eliminate all forms of play and run solely on intelligence and logic. You and your Digimon kind cannot be converted to Cyber-form so you shall be eradicated."

"You think emotions are weak?" Calumon suddenly stopped dancing around. "You don't like play? What is wrong with you? If we don't get to feel happy then there's no point to anything, is there. What's wrong with feeling happy? Feeling sad is a bad thing, but what is wrong with feeling happy?"

"Emotions are distractions," the Cyber-Leader uttered. "Feeling happy is not necessary for survival, therefore it shall be eradicated."

"You're all big dummies!" Calumon yelled. "Feeling happy is the best thing in the world. Except for cream puffs. Cream puffs are even better."

"Cream puffs and all other congestibles will no longer be needed either. Cybermen do not require food."

"No cream-puffs?" Calumon gasped. "You're all monsters!"

"We are human-point-two," the Cyber-Leader replied.

All the time the attention of the Cybermen had been focused on Calumon, Martha and Guilmon had been slowly moving around the sides of the wall in the direction of the large machine which was slowly humming from behind the throne of the Cyber-controller. Calumon was only providing a diversion, and even the Cybermen who had been manning the machine itself did not see their approach until it was too late.

The first of the three was seized by Guilmon from behind and had his head pulled off before it realised what was happening, its body lowered carefully to the ground.

The second of the three was grabbed by Martha and pulled to the ground, where she tried to pin it down and allowed Guilmon to slam his claws into its chest and pull out several important wires.

And the third was pushed by Martha until it clattered off the machine and fell to the ground with a loud thud. The Cybermen immediately turned to see Guilmon landing on the back of the throne of the Cyber-controller and launch a large Pyro Sphere at the fallen Cyberman to blow its head to shrapnel.

"Guilmon!" Takato cried. "You're alright!"

"Hold on, Takato!" Guilmon yelled, spitting three more Pyro Spheres with astonishing accuracy, pummelling the three Cybermen holding the captives in their chest one by one, felling them on the spot. As the captives broke free, the remaining Cybermen immediately pointed their weapons at the errant dinosaur.

"Halt!" the Cyber-Leader almost shouted. "Do not fire on him. We must not damage the transmitter."

"You're luck's just about run out!" Guilmon grinned, as the captives immediately ran over to stand next to him, knowing that the safest place to be standing was in front of said transmitter at this point.

"Not completely the case, Digimon!" the Cyber-Leader intoned, and with a burst of speed, he suddenly whirled around and grabbed Calumon from his spot of the ground. Calumon screamed as he was hoisted into the air in the tight fist, the metal fingers constricting around him like metallic snakes.

"Another weakness of emotion is mercy," the Cyber-leader replied. "If you do not surrender now then I shall destroy this little one."

The whole group immediately froze, staring at the struggling Calumon with abject horror. It seemed they had already reached a stalemate – none of them were willing to risk harm to something that the other side seemed to have control of – the transmitter and the Catalyst.

"What shall it be Tamers?" the Cyber-Leader asked.

But, out of sight of the metallic men, Martha Jones was already at work. She was very slowly and carefully, trying to work as silently as possible, unplugging various sockets and cables from their allotted places in the machine. She grinned as she felt the thrumming of the machine going down with every wire that she pulled out, until she seized a large cable in both hands and wrenched with all her strength.

The was an audible groan from the machine as it immediately lost all power and died. Martha beamed and had to resist the urge to whoop as the signal that was supposed to be disrupting the Digimon's data was completely shut off at the source.

The Cybermen looked up at the machine with the mechanical equivalent of alarm. "Scans indicate transmitter non-functional," one of them stated.

"What have you done?" the Cyber-Leader demanded.

"We've ruined your plans!" a voice yelled, as the Doctor plunged into the room from nearby. "Good work, Martha Jones! Always knew there was a reason that I picked you after all."

"Doctor!" the Cyber-Leader began, turning to face him. "Your arrival has been anticipated."

"Yeah, I know," the Doctor winked at him cheekily. "But it looks like you were foiled before I even got here? And you've allowed my arrival to distract you completely, haven't you?"

A Pyro Sphere suddenly thudded into the Cyber-Leader's side and he stumbled, losing his grip on Calumon, who immediately soared to freedom. Guardromon suddenly rushed out of the tunnel on his jets with eyes narrowed and cried, "I'll show you who's the superior machine!" as he belted the Cyber-Leader in the chest with a hammer-blow from his fist to send him catapulting into the wall.

"Guardromon!" Kazu cheered. "You're okay too!"

The remaining four Cybermen immediately turned their attention towards Guardromon and raised their large laser weapons, but MarineAngemon suddenly appeared over the robot Digimon's head and giggled as he span in an abrupt circle and released a salvo of Kahuna Wave bubbles, the first few of which intercepted the lasers and popped while the second few expanded to engulf the Cybermen completely and disintegrate them from within.

"Yeah, you go, MarineAngemon!" Kenta cried.

The damaged Cyber-Leader hurriedly peeled himself from the wall and clambered unsteadily to his feet. "Your victory is not yet assured, Doctor," he stated, before he turned around and grabbed a large switch on the side of the wall and flipped it. There was a mechanical whirring sound as the hunched and deactivated Cybermen in the corridor beside it automatically began to twitch and move.

"He's activated another portion of the Cyber-army!" the Doctor cried. "Kenta, quick! Pass me your D-Arc."

"Right!" Kenta cried, having already learned that this man knew what he was doing and tossing the little device to him. The Doctor seized it and pressed the sonic screwdriver against its screen, buzzed for a few seconds and grinned. "Done," he added.

* * *

Each of the D-Arcs throughout the city then gave off a mechanical beeping noise. Back at the HYPNOS towers, the Tamers all immediately looked at their devices with wide eyes.

"Was that what I think it is?" Henry asked.

"Must be," Ryo cried. "They did it! They shut down the signal and the Doctor has restored our D-Arcs to their original settings."

"Which means we don't have to hold back anymore!" Terriermon grinned. "Let's go get 'em, Henry!"

"You got it, Terriermon!" Henry smirked as he and his partner dashed outside. "Come on, Lopmon!"

"On it!" Lopmon lifted herself into the air and followed the two of them out. "Now, Suzie!"

"Okay!" Suzie nodded, seizing a card and turning it blue as she had been taught by her brother. "Digi-modify! Matrix digivolution activate!"

"Biomerge activate!" Henry added as soon as he and Terriermon were clear of the doors.

Both of the bunnies were engulfed in light as they shot into the street. Beelzemon was just finished carving another sweep through the masses of Cybermen with Berenjena when he looked around with a smirk on his face to see the two Digimon and the one Tamer expanding outwards.

As Antylamon formed out of Lopmon, she immediately morphed her hands into axe blades and charged through the Cybermen ranks, flipping the axes around so the flats ploughed straight into their bodies and piled them into one another as she passed before heaving upwards to fling them into the air, bounding up as she did so to land with a four limbed thud among several more.

"Alrighty then!" MegaGargomon cried as the light dissipated from the humungous mechanoid form he had taken on. "Time to get a-squishing, I'd say! Let's see you guys stand up to this then!" he roared as he ignored the blasts of the Cybermen weaponry and simply stepped casually into the street, flattening close to twenty Cybermen with a single step, then lifting up his other foot to bring it descending on another bunch. It was like a game of whack-a-mole, except the moles never vanished back into the ground and never popped back up once you hit them.

Beelzemon smirked and dropped to the ground, bashing another Cyberman aside with a swipe of Berenjena and firing another huge blast straight between MegaGargomon's huge legs to take out another enormous bunch. It seemed that the rest of this battle was going to be an absolute cakewalk.

* * *

Back inside the tower, Rika and Ryo had already biomerged with their partners, the injuries of the two of them having ebbed with the transformation. Sakuyamon held her staff in front of her and summoned a Talisman Sphere around her, before hovering over the hole in the ground and dropping into it, the force-field crushing any Cyberman that was climbing through as she dropped into the sewer system below.

She was faced with row upon row of yet more Cybermen, who immediately fired on her, though her shield took the shots with ease. Justimon then barrelled down in front of her and slammed the ground with a Thunder Clap, obliterating countless numbers of the Cybermen in front of them and knocking over all the others with the shockwaves. The two Megas then stormed down the sewer, laying about with staff and Voltage Blade alike, Sakuyamon's fox spirits swooping out to add to the maelstrom of destruction at the same time.

* * *

The Cyber-Leader turned around as the army behind him continued to mobilise, only to find Guardromon sweeping towards him and plunging his metal fist straight through his thick chest and into the wall beyond it. The Cyber-Leader rattled and sparked as he collapsed to the floor, completely dead.

"We've got the full power of the Digimon back!" Kenta cried as the Cybermen in the corridor stepped out into the middle. "But now what are we meant to do?"

"You guys hold them off!" the Doctor pointed. "I have a plan, but I'll need a few minutes."

"On it!" Takato cried as he and Guilmon stormed towards the oncoming Cybermen, merging into Gallantmon without a second's thought. Martha stared in amazement as the kid and the dinosaur merged into the Knight, which slammed the first few rows of Cybermen with his shield and then advanced down the corridor, shield raised to take the laser shots and lance slashing out the side to impale the Cybermen the moment they got too close.

"So, what's the plan, Doctor?" Martha cried as the Time Lord sprinted over to the machine.

"Well, I'm very glad you decided to deactivate the machine instead of destroying it, Martha," the Doctor responded. "Because I'm going to turn the technology of the Cybermen against them. They're trying to take over the Earth, but they've made a whopping mistake trying to take a place where Digimon live, and not just because the Digimon are so powerful."

"Isn't that sort of technology supposed to be way better than anything that humans can produce?" Kazu asked.

"Yep," the Doctor nodded as he flipped and switched and fine-tuned the machine with no-stop precision.

"Then how can you know how to change its settings?" Kenta asked.

"Because I'm a genius, okay?" the Doctor replied immediately. "Now, Martha, when I say so, I want you to plug that main socket back into the machine. And pass me your phone."

Martha could see that the Doctor was in technical mode now, so asking him any questions now would be just about pointless, so she immediately tossed him her mobile. The Doctor seized it almost without looking and his the first number on speed-dial, lifting it to his ears as he adjusted more settings on the machine with only one hand and danced about from section to section with non-stop motions as if he did this sort of thing in his sleep.

As soon as the phone was answered, he called, "Jeri, did you make it?"

* * *

"Oh yeah," Jeri breathed, still totally flabbergasted as she took in the inside of the TARDIS, running a hand across its central console in wonder. "This… is… incredible."

"Yes, it is, isn't it? But I need you to listen to me now. I've already primed the ship to do what it needs to do. I just need you to carry out the final phase, okay?"

"Okay!" Jeri nodded. "What's the plan?"

"First, do you see a large lever sticking up from next to the central console from the left if you face it from the doors?"

"Yes," Jeri replied. "I see it."

"I want you to pull that lever down as far as it'll go, and then hold tight. It _will_ get bumpy."

Jeri didn't wait to question it. She immediately pulled the lever down. She was almost thrown off her feet immediately and grabbed hold of a nearby railing as the entire ship lurched. Engine parts began shifting up and down in the large, transparent pillar sticking up from the central console and a loud, groaning sound like several elephants trying to trumpet with blocked noses filled the room.

* * *

Yamaki and the other members of the HYPNOS staff were standing by the windows in the top of the towers and watching as the Digimon laid it to the hordes of Cybermen outside, when a strange wind picked up behind them and they quickly whirled around, as the room was filled with the same, strange groaning sound. They watched in absolute astonishment as the TARDIS faded out of nowhere into existence right in the middle of the room.

* * *

"Good work, Jeri!" the Doctor cried as he jiggled a lever once more, tossed the phone into the air and keyed several things into the transmitter with both hands before catching the phone again and pressing it back to his ear. "Just one… last… adjustment… aaaannddd… BINGO! Now, Martha!"

Martha seized the large mains cable and slammed it back into the socket that she pulled it out from. The machine whirred back into life, but this time they Digimon did not keel over in complete agony.

* * *

This time, the TARDIS up in the tower above began to whir as well, as Jeri looked around her to see various machine parts start flashing and bleeping all around her.

"Okay, Jeri, one more thing," the Doctor cried. "I've calibrated the machine down here to broadcast a signal to the ship you're in which will disrupt and overload the internal processors unique to the Cybermen as soon as you link it up with the terminals of the HYPNOS tower. I've already calibrated it to do just that as well. All I need you to do is hit the great big, threatening-looking button under the television screen to open the frequency."

Jeri's head shot around and she immediately spotted the button in question. She dashed around the console and hammered her fist down on it. "Done," she cried into the phone.

The TARDIS immediately whirred and sparked in several places, the large blue light on the top of it flashing on and illuminating the entire room as it broadcast the signal from the machine down in the sewers into the active computers all around the room. As these machines were constantly on and scanning the city for Digital activity, the TARDIS hijacked its function instantaneously and switched its purpose to transmitting the signal right across the city instead.

* * *

The effect was immediate. In the streets and sewers alike, every single Cyberman still standing began to convulse and shudder wildly, their hands shooting up to grasp their metal heads. The Digimon paused in their fighting to stare at the spasming machines and, after about ten seconds of flat out juddering and uncontrollable shaking, the heads of the Cybermen simply began to explode, followed by their bodies. Their internal computers which allowed their brains to control their bodies overloaded and blew, and within a matter of moments, every single Cyberman in the city of Tokyo was no more.

The Cyber-controller, sitting slumped and dead to the world in his throne was the last to go. The surge of energy into his computer activated him for a brief moment, giving him enough time to look up and cry "NOOOO!" before he too went kablooey.

"Yes!" Martha cried.

"Alright!" Kazu and Kenta yelled at the same time.

"Woop woop!" MarineAngemon agreed.

Gallantmon lowered his lance when he found himself free of adversaries.

"HahaHAH!" the Doctor yelled. "I told you I was a genius. And Jeri, well done to you. Very well done. Now, just one last thing. Step outside, lock the door and please don't let those scientists waiting outside in. The technology in there is _waaay_ to advanced for humans to get their hands on just yet."

"Will do, Doctor," Jeri smiled. "Will do. And thank you so much. You saved us all."

"Well," the Doctor murmured. "Maybe. But without you guys, I'm pretty sure that I would have failed."

Jeri chuckled and hung up. The Doctor tossed the phone back to Martha and reached down to unplug the machine once again. He smiled and then stepped away, guiding Martha down with her and saying, "Right then. MarineAngemon. Would you like the honour of destroying this device completely?"

MarineAngemon smirked and flitted up before it to cry, **"SMILING FACE!"** and lanced a pink beam of energy forwards with cut straight through the machine, and reduce it to piles of junk almost immediately.

"So, Doctor," Martha grinned. "Did you see any of this unusual activity you were looking for today?"

The Doctor chuckled. "I reckon I've seen more than my fair share of unusual things today, Martha. But apart from the fact that the Cybermen tried to take over the world today, the only thing I have to say about today was that it was brilliant. Just brilliant."

"So, what are these Digimon creatures anyway?" Martha asked.

"Molto bene," the Doctor snorted. "That's what they are. Molto bene."

"That's not an answer."

"Course it is. It's one of the best answers there is."

Martha rolled her eyes.

* * *

The Digimon, Tamers and assorted allies had regrouped about half an hour later at the top of the towers, just outside the TARDIS. The Doctor was leaning against the door with Martha by his side and said, "Well, I can't really stay for long, I'm afraid. I never do hang about after this kind of thing happens."

"Happens often to you then?" Rika asked.

"Often enough," the Doctor nodded.

"Sometimes twice in one day," Martha sighed.

"Yeah, I might find myself in something similar before supper," the Doctor grinned. "Well, I guess that this is goodbye, but I can safely say that it was a huge privilege to work with every single one of you. Tamers and Digimon alike. I shan't soon forget it, and if trouble ever brings me down to the shores of Japan again in the near future or in the past then I hope to work with you again?"

"Nothing you say makes much sense, does it?" Terriermon snorted.

"Who wants to make sense?" the Doctor asked.

"Good point," the bunny grinned.

"Just one thing, Doctor?" Renamon asked. "Who exactly are you? The Cyberman back at the Nonaka house called you a Time Lord if I remember correctly? And you said you've fought them before, even though they're alien."

"And you have an alien spacecraft of your own," agreed Jeri.

"And a sonic screwdriver, whatever that is," Monodramon added.

"And when we first met you," Henry nodded. "The Cyberman said you had a binary vascular system. But that's impossible surely. That would mean that you have two hearts."

"Yeah, you _did_ say that you had two hearts earlier, didn't you?" Rika remembered.

The Doctor smiled and said, "Yes, I did. And yes, I do. And I'm pretty sure from all that that you've figure out what I am. See ya," and he opened the door of the TARDIS and disappeared inside.

Martha took one last look at the group and said, "I know. I didn't believe it at first either," before she vanished inside too and the door close. The assembled group watched with amazement as the TARDIS began to flash and it slowly faded completely out existence, hair and fur swept back by the wind which whipped out of nowhere until the blue box had completely vanished from sight and the sound of its engines faded away.

"A real genuine alien," Henry murmured. "Oh my God. He was an alien?"

"Oh dear," Terriermon murmured. "His geeky side is going to be freaking out about this for the next fortnight."

"Terriermon."

Terriermon was about to say his patented word, when a wind suddenly picked up again, and with another set of loud groaning, the TARDIS suddenly reappeared. Each of them stared at it in bemusment and the door opened to reveal the Doctor, who pointed at Henry and said, "Momentai," before he shut the door again and the TARDIS faded away once more.

Five seconds of bemusement passed.

Then:-

"HEY! THAT'S MY WORD!"

* * *

Well, that was the longest oneshot that I've done so far. I just couldn't fit it all in to the usual oneshot length that I have. This felt like an entire episode of Doctor Who, but I thoroughly enjoyed writing it and I hope you all like it too. I tried to give every one of them a slight role in the plot if nothing else and I very much hope that you enjoyed this **Movie-Brat**. Once again, if there are any inaccuracies in the design and behaviour of the classic Cybermen then I apologise, and I hope that you can forgive it all the same. Happy late birthday.

**WhiteWolfPrincess95** – I shall now start on your oneshot.

* * *

Fergus Flamacron, signing off.


	11. A Different Kind of Star

Yay! I'm back again with yet another oneshot, though quite frankly I think I should have turned this one into a twoshot like that of Forcystus5 because it had grown to be ridiculously long – the single longest chapter that I've ever written for anything before. Regardless, I enjoyed writing this immensely. Anyway, this one is for **WhiteWolfPrincess95**, and it features her own OC, so I really, really hope that my commissioner is happy with the way that I portrayed both her and her relationship with the other characters.

Hope you like this folks.

* * *

**Reviewer Requests**

**Oneshot 9:- A Different Kind of Star**

**Rating:- T**

**Worlds:- Digimon Tamers, Digimon Adventure, Star Wars: The Clone Wars**

* * *

Under normal circumstances, Anakin Skywalker would probably have been celebrating by this point. Though the day had not particularly had the best of starts, having been forced to arrest the Rodian Representative Lolo Purs for the attempted murder of her own mentor, and then they had been forced into a race against time to stop a huge anti-matter bomb from the entire underwater city of Otoh Gunga.

Anakin could think of many, _many_ things he would rather be doing than them.

On the plus side though, they had managed to disable said bomb and in the process, Anakin had managed to break through into the mental web that now comprised himself, his team-mate and fellow Jedi Aayla Secura and the three human children and their Digimon partners that had landed in his universe just under five months ago, which is why he would normally be celebrating.

However, there was another situation going on which had not yet resolved itself and that was the fact that the Digimon in question were locked in mortal combat with another powerful member of their own species. The battle seemed to be going relatively well, but there was always a chance that things could go either way in this kind of affair.

Which was why Anakin and Aayla were currently bounding through the tunnels beneath the city and dashing around boulder and corner alike. The two Tamers that were with them, Henry and Suzie, hurried along as best they could, while a slightly confused General Tarpals followed in the rear.

"Whatsa goin' on?" the Gungan asked. "Why wesa running?"

"It's complicated, General," Anakin called back over his shoulder. "We don't have the time to explain."

_We need to try and lose him,_ Aayla reminded them. _He can't know about the Digimon's existence. Not yet at least._

_Yeah, I know,_ Anakin grimaced. _Don't worry, I'll think of something._

"Master!" called a voice, and the group pulled to a halt at the sight of Ahsoka Tano, Anakin's Padawan, running down the tunnel towards them. She skidded to a stop in front of them and said, "Last of the droids and Quarren in the area have been dealt with Master. Most of the Quarren surrendered almost immediately and the Aqua Droids weren't too much trouble."

"Good work, Snips," Anakin nodded. "General Tarpals, I think it would be a good idea if you and the clones were to sweep the tunnels for any more potential enemy activity. Give every passageway a thorough going over. We don't want any other Separatists that we might have missed to escape."

"Good idea," Tarpals nodded.

"You're in charge," Anakin nodded.

"Commander Monnk and the others are that way," Ahsoka pointed over her shoulder and the Gungan quickly hurried away to join up with the white-clad men several corridors away.

The moment he was gone, Ahsoka turned to the others and said, "Did you get the bomb?"

"Yeah, Henry diffused it with a little guidance from Anakin," Aayla nodded.

"Cool," Ahsoka grinned. "Well done that Henry. And what about the Digimon? How are they getting on?"

"Not as well as they would like," Henry replied, holding up his D-Arc for Ahsoka to see. The little device was displaying an image of what Henry's partner, Rapidmon, was currently seeing. Missiles streaked out from around its edges and the large, mutant-like adversary they were aiming for vanished with a loud BACKEW noise and re-appeared instantaneously right in front of the screen, taking a swipe at it with huge, purple claws.

Ahsoka grimaced. "So, what do we do now?"

"We're going to head back over there," Aayla responded. "Perhaps some Modify Cards from Henry and Suzie might even up the odds a little bit."

"Got it," Ahsoka nodded. "What are we waiting for?"

The group of five immediately turned and bolted down the nearest tunnel.

* * *

Sakuyamon raised her staff and generated another swift Talisman Sphere as their opponent – the Digimon who had dropped them here in the first place that went by the name of Parallelmon – charged right towards her. He swiped with his large claws at the transparent shield, but moments before he hit it he vanished with another loud noise, dimension-jumping in an attempt to get past Sakuyamon's defences.

Sakuyamon smirked, guessing what was coming and threw herself backwards, phasing out the back of her shield as Parallelmon re-appeared inside it and swiped at empty air, now enclosed within the transparent bubble on his own. Sakuyamon promptly darted back and slammed the shield with her staff, sending it flying like a volleyball and carrying the yelling Parallelmon along with it.

Antylamon bounded forwards and swung her Bunny Blades hard at the shield. Sakuyamon dropped it at the last second before Antylamon hit, but unfortunately Parallelmon managed to gather himself enough to perform another dimension jump before Antylamon's axes could strike him. Antylamon barely had time to register the fact that she had missed when Parallelmon crashed into her back and sent her crashing forwards, almost slamming straight into Sakuyamon in the process.

Parallelmon immediately pursued, but with a blur of motion faster than he could track, Rapidmon appeared right in front of him and slammed his arm cannons into either side of his face. Parallelmon yelped in shock as Rapidmon then span around to boot him in the nose with a speedy roundhouse kick and flip around to shoot a single Rapid Fire missile into his stomach and send the other shooting after him as he span towards the ground far below.

Parallelmon growled in pain, anger and frustration. He'd been battling against these three for at least quarter of an hour and possibly much longer than that by now and they were still refusing to give up or even slow down. He swiftly tried to right himself, clutching at his stomach with one armoured hand and slamming the missile aside with the other, wincing as it impacted against his claws. He promptly tried to power himself upwards once again, but this dimension-jumped after he'd gotten a few feet to appear next to Rapidmon and slash at him from the side.

But this time they had been prepared for this and Rapidmon blipped out of existence milliseconds before Parallelmon even appeared and as the Mega slashed at empty air, he saw Antylamon powering back towards him with axes raised and this time she hit him, ploughing the heavy blades into his already heavily-damaged armour and bodily slamming him into a tree. Parallelmon screeched in pain and Antylamon immediately threw herself backwards, ducking as Sakuyamon's Twin Blades of Beauty and Truth lanced over her head.

Parallelmon tried to push himself off the tree but the attacks still struck his leg and sent him spinning with another slice taken out of him, leaving him completely open to a strike from the fox spirits which all surged in moments later and plunged into his body, letting loose cries of agony from his twisted mouth as he convulsed with the elemental power. And then, of course, Rapidmon appeared right above him and launched a Tri Beam directly down at him, sending him catapulting down into the ground to impact it hard enough to cause his own crater. Again.

As his three opponents regrouped nearby, Parallelmon heaved himself back upwards, staggering back to his feet and wobbling from left to right as he felt the last of his strength beginning to fade. These three were phenomenal battlers and coalesced as a team almost perfectly – none of them ever got in the way of the other as they fought against him and they all knew exactly what the other was going to do the moment that the other decided to do it.

"Give up yet?" Rapidmon asked.

"N… never…" Parallelmon grunted, wincing as he felt his data fluctuate again.

"Hey guys! You alright?" a voice cried, and Parallelmon glanced to the side to see five humanoids appear, including the two other Tamers and the cerulean skinned woman who had cut the dimensional claw that came out of his eye in half earlier.

Parallelmon growled, but the adult human nearby just chuckled. "Well, looks like we weren't really need after all. You guys seem to have this under control all by yourselves."

"Yeah, this guy looks beaten," an orange skinned girl agreed. "And you were right, Master. That is one ugly Digimon."

"Told you," the young male Tamer snorted.

"I will have… the final say," Parallelmon grunted as he took another step forward, but almost fell to the ground the moment he tried.

"Really?" Sakuyamon raised a brow beneath her mask as her body took on a yellow crystalline sheen. "Because from this angle it looks like that will be us."

Rapidmon's body began to warp too into the same substance except green in colour. "You messed with the wrong Digimon the first time and then you decided to come for us again. Not smart."

Antylamon also began to crystalize, but she took on a bright pink colouration. "And now you're heading to a dimension which you won't be able to escape from."

Their bodies burst into light and they transformed into pure energy at the same moment, lancing forwards like three separate beams and intertwining around each other in a complex web, before they slammed together and merged into one huge form that took on the shape of a giant glowing crane that plunged straight towards Parallelmon.

"**TRINITY BURST!"** they bellowed together, piling on more speed.

"Oh, now that is cool," Suzie gushed as she watched them.

Parallelmon's single eye narrowed and determination to have his revenge filled him to the brim. He growled and his instincts took over, causing him to throw out his hands, expunging the last of his strength to create a giant wormhole behind him, which promptly began to generate a huge suction that pulled fallen leaves and bits of debris straight towards it, as well as several large trees that had been uprooted in the fighting.

And, at the same time, the five humanoids nearby were also caught completely by surprise as they felt the pull on their bodies. The suction was incredibly strong, so strong in fact that Suzie was immediately pulled off her feet before any of them could react and screamed as she tumbled through the air straight towards the giant wormhole.

"HENRY! HEEELP!" she wailed as she flipped over and over.

"SUZAAGH!" Henry started, but he was suddenly whipped into the air himself. Anakin and Aayla both acted immediately and lashed out with the Force to grab both the two Tamers and attempt to reel them back, while Ahsoka grabbed hold of the trunk of a nearby tree and tried to make sure that Anakin and Aayla themselves were not taken. The Togruta Padawan gritted her teeth as she exerted her will over the Force, but a large cracking noise of to her left suddenly drew her attention.

She gasped and barely had the time to cry, "Look out!" before a large branch lashed towards them under the pull of the portal and smacked her over the head, knocking her unconscious and at the same time hitting both the other Jedi in the back and flinging them into the air, sending all three of them and the Tamers hurtling inexorably towards the portal.

Parallelmon allowed the portal suction to draw him back into it himself and his three assailants, unable to stop themselves, zoomed straight in after him. Parallelmon turned to try and flee, but he had completely used up his energy reserves and the Trinity Burst attack cannoned straight into his back, eliciting a shriek of agony as he was immediately blown into data particles. The three Digimon quickly separated as the bits of Parallelmon zipped through the vortex and whirled around to see what had happened to the others, only to see them tumbling along behind them, the portal closing moments after Ahsoka went flying past the entrance.

"Oh, man!" Rapidmon yelled. "Not again! Please tell me we aren't being whisked off to an unknown dimension again!"

"It looks that way to me!" Antylamon replied, reaching out and seizing Henry and Suzie in her enormous hands while the other two hurried over to gather the Jedi together. Anakin drew his unconscious Padawan close to him and looked up at the Digimon wildly.

"We can't be going to another universe!" he yelled. "We can't! We have our duty to fulfil back in our _own_ universe! The war! The Jedi! The Republic! We have to go back!"

"Hate to break it to you, Anakin," Sakuyamon murmured, as they tumbled over and over. "But we just destroyed the only person we know who might be able to do that for us!"

Anakin felt his heart thud in his chest, a deep hollow feeling automatically filling up inside him. A few moments later, and he felt a hand gently covering his own. He looked down to see that it was Aayla, who gave him as comforting a look as she could manage while they were being whipped across the dimensional barrier. Anakin bit his lip, and then looked up as the whole group tore towards an unknown future.

* * *

The sun filtered through Tai Kamiya's eyelids as it rose over the distant horizon, causing him to groan and lift a hand to shield them from the glare before he opened them. Bleary-eyed, he glanced around at the rest of the Digi-destined campsite. Most of the other kids were still asleep, practically passed out on the ground, although it seemed that Matt Ishida was already awake, and staring out at the surface of the lake they had chosen to rest beside.

"Have you been keeping watch all night, Matt?" Tai murmured as he levered himself up of the rock he had been resting against.

"Someone's gotta do it, Tai," Matt grimaced. "And since everybody else was so tired I figured that I could lose a night of sleep."

"See anything?" Tai asked as he stretched his arm.

"Nope," Matt shook his head. "Not a sound, least of all from Myotismon. But he's still out there somewhere so it's best that we make sure he can't take us by surprise again."

"I still think it couldn't have hurt to wake someone up to relieve you, Matt," Gabumon murmured from the spot next to his partner. "Honestly sometimes I think that you work too hard. You deserve your rest too."

Tai chuckled, and then turned to look at the rest of the kids again. After a quick survey of the group, his eyes fell on their latest addition – the young girl who went by the name of Lily. She was so deep in sleep that she was practically unconscious. Tai smiled lightly. Any rest that that girl could gather was critical at this stage. After all, she had been through quite a lot a couple of weeks ago, and she was still recovering from both the ordeal and the injuries she had received in it.

Tai briefly reflected on the girl, as he usually did when he woke up just to remind himself that everything he knew about her was real. She looked just like a regular human girl, with deep brown eyes and midnight-blue hair, but that was as far as the similarity went. According to her, she was a star.

Not as in the famous celebrity kind, nor the giant balls of gas kind from his own world. The stars of the Digital World were extremely powerful beings; warriors that were believed to be the creators of the Digital World, as well as many others, and served under the Star-God Drasil and his wife Yggdrasil. Lily was only a young star, meaning that she wasn't anywhere near as powerful as she could be, but apparently she had fallen to the Digital World several years ago and had been living in it ever since.

Her life had been far from easy, largely because she had been discovered by the evil Digimon Myotismon, a powerful vampiric Ultimate that had taken her in with what seemed like kindness at first, but he had later revealed that he only wanted Lily in his service for the powers she would have as she grew older. Lily had tried to escape at first, but after repeated beatings and tortures at the hands of her monstrous master, she had eventually stopped trying and had become another one of his various minions.

The only real brightness in her life had been her friend, a Renamon that had been taken prisoner by Myotismon's forces shortly after Lily herself was captured. The two of them had been allowed to work together as long as they both swore service to Myotismon, which they had both done very reluctantly and they had been together ever since. Apparently she had also been friends with a guy called Wizardmon, but she had despised everybody else who worked for Myotismon, or Dorkula as she preferred to call him.

When Myotismon had heard that the Digi-destined were close by, he had sent Lily into their midst to act as a spy and then to eliminate the group, starting with their goggle-headed leader. At first, Lily had willing to do it, but the more time she spent with the group of seven kids and their Digimon partners the less she wanted to do it. Especially Tai. She had developed a very close bond with Tai, so much so that she fell in love with him, and that was when she refused to carry out her assigned task.

Naturally, Myotismon had not been very happy about this and had immediately tried to take her back into his service and kill the Digi-destined himself. Lily and Renamon had finally taken the opportunity to turn traitor and had both retaliated against him. However, that action had taken its toll on both of them. Renamon had been beaten badly by Myotismon and Lily had taken a Shadow Scythe from his servant, Phantomon, which had been aimed at Tai directly in the stomach. If it hadn't been for the quick actions of the Digi-destined, Joe Kido's medical knowhow and a timely digivolution from Birdramon into Garudamon, both probably would have died.

And now, two weeks later, and they had not yet met with Myotismon again. But they all knew that he was out there, somewhere, waiting for his next opportunity to strike.

"You staring at me again, Tai?" Lily asked, and it was only at that point that Tai realised that she had woken up. "Why is it that every time I open my eyes in the morning, I see you staring at me?"

Tai flushed immediately and stammered, "Well, it's…uh… it's…well…"

"It's because he looooovvves you," Lily's Digimon partner snickered as she sat up herself. "Isn't it obvious? He obviously can't get enough of your perfect face, your silken hair, your gleamiOW!"

"Shut up, Renamon," Lily glared at her, albeit slightly good-naturedly. "I wasn't asking you."

"That hurt," Renamon pouted.

"You've had worse," Lily replied.

"I was just… uh… making sure that you were alright," Tai supplied as quickly as he could.

"And daydreaming about what the future might hold for the two of you," Matt chuckled from his nearby rock.

"Matt! Knock it off!"

"Sorry. Couldn't resist."

"Is it time to eat yet?" Agumon yawned as he pushed himself up. "I'm getting hungry."

"Me too," Renamon nodded. "I'm starved."

"Who's surprised?" Lily rolled her eyes. "Not me."

"Haha."

"Did somebody say 'eat?'" Tentomon suddenly said, making everybody jump because it was nearly impossible to tell when Tentomon was awake or asleep since his large green eyes never actually closed.

The rest of the group were beginning to stir now, waking up one by one as the voices around them roused them from their sleep. As usual, Mimi was soon the only one still asleep, mumbling something about dying her hair pink, but it wasn't long before Palmon started shaking her shoulder gently to try and wake her up.

"What's for breakfast?" TK asked as he stretched his little arms.

Joe sighed as he straightened his glasses. "It'll probably end up being fish again, won't it? That's what we usually end up having these days, and I'm beginning to think that eating the same thing over and over again is giving me problems with my digestion."

"You don't appreciate anything I do for you, Joe," Gomamon humphed. "I work so hard to find and catch fish that I'm not friends with to fill your stomach and all you do is complain."

"There are probably some fruit trees not far away," Palmon suggested. "The Digital World can be a pretty bountiful place if you know where to look."

"Fruit and fish seem to be the mainstay of what we've had since we came here," Izzy mumbled. "Except for those eggs we found in that refrigerator that one time. What I wouldn't give for a simple bowl of cereal."

"What's cereal, Izzy?" Tentomon asked.

"Sounds dangerous," Patamon murmured with a shudder.

"Nah, cereal's just the name for a type of breakfast you put in a bowl and then usually pour milk over the top," Sora said reassuringly.

"What's milk?" Yokomon interjected.

"Never mind."

"Well, I don't know about all of you," Renamon announced as she clambered to her feet, "But I agree that it would be nice if we could have something else for a change. Plus, I'm ravenous so I'm going to go out there and look for something more substantial."

"I'm coming with you," Lily said immediately as she clambered to her feet.

"No, you stay here," Renamon shook her head. "I can cover more ground quickly if I go by myself."

"But what if you get attacked by one of Dorkula's flunkies?" Lily asked plaintively. "Something always goes wrong when one of us goes off on our own."

"No, that's just you," Renamon rolled her eyes. "_You're_ the one who always runs off on her own and then gets attacked. Stay here with this lot and I'll see if I can rustle us up something edible."

Lily sighed. "Fine. Just make sure you don't scarf it all yourself."

"The very idea," Renamon smirked as she bounded away towards the trees.

"It's been known to happen!" Lily called after her before she vanished.

"You guys really are very close, aren't you?" Agumon observed. "And you're not even a Digi-destined, Lily."

"Well, we've you've been through what we have," Lily shrugged. "It's kinda difficult not to get so close to one of your only friends."

Tai could see that Lily was still worried, so he simply smiled and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, causing Lily to look up and fix her brown eyes on his own. "Don't worry about her. I'm sure she'll be fine. She's got more sense than to stay where she's outmatched."

Lily frowned at him. "Are you saying that I'm not?"

"Er… well… uh…"

"Of course he is," Gomamon grinned. "After all, we've had more than enough evidence to see that… mmph mmfffh mgg." Palmon had shot out her Poison Ivy attack and wrapped it around Gomamon's head to seal his mouth.

"Oh, don't listen to him, he didn't say anything. Really," Joe chuckled nervously.

"Relax, Joe," Lily chuckled. "It's not like I'm going to charbroil him. Though, one second thoughts, I _could._" She grinned sinisterly as flames spurted to life in the palm of her hand. "Anyone up for grilled Gomamon?"

Gomamon went white... er.

Mimi chose that moment to wake up and murmur, "Does it taste good?"

The entire camp almost fell about with much-needed laughter, before Palmon lifted Gomamon bodily into the air and tossed him into the lake with a cry of, "Now get fishing for us, seal-boy."

"Yes, ma'aaaaam," Gomamon yelled as he sailed through the air and landed with a plop in the water.

"You know, I really, _really_ don't know how I managed to get through all those years with Myotismon before I met all of you guys," Lily stated with a grateful smile. "I… I hope that… none of you ever leave me."

"Hey," Matt smiled reassuringly. "Course we won't. What are friends for, right?"

"You said it, Matt," Sora agreed.

Lily nodded to them both, and then she felt Tai taking a gentle grip on her hand. There was only one thing that could have made this moment more perfect and that would be the knowledge that Myotismon was dead. And maybe… just maybe… with this lot by her side, she might one day be able to make that thought a reality.

* * *

Renamon bounded through the trees on all fours like a silent and stealthy wraith and leapt up onto a large rock, tail swishing out behind her and bunching around her feet as she closed her eyes and listened, her pointed ears pricking as she tried to pick out any noises that might indicate something she could hunt. She was hungry as anything, having not had anything since yesterday afternoon. And Renamon got hungry quickly.

Of course this hunting trip also provided another purpose – allowing her to scope out the area and make sure that none of that vampire's flunkies were out trying to track down her or Lily. Or the rest of the Digi-destined for that matter. She had hit it off quite well with the other Digimon, particularly Agumon, though that might be because their partners had gotten so close in such a short amount of time.

Sure enough, a few moments later she heard a small snapping noise, so faint that humans and many Digimon might not have been able to detect it, but which indicated the presence of another being. Silent as a moth, Renamon pinpointed the direction of the noise instantaneously and slunk through the undergrowth of the forest, slipping around the trunks of the various trees and keeping herself low to the ground in prime stalking position, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

A few seconds later and she arrived at the spot where she'd heard the noise, peering through a bush into the space beyond. There, she could see what appeared to be a small, white-Digimon with enormous ears which were flecked with green, as well as a single horn on his forehead. He was standing on a branch of a nearby tree, looking around him with narrowed eyes, as if trying to work out where the hell he was.

Renamon knew immediately that this was a Terriermon, though she had never seen one before. Nevertheless, it was too good an opportunity to pass up. After all, he was a rabbit. And she was a fox. What more could she ask for.

However, the moment she moved, the Terriermon was onto her, his own ears picking up the sound of the rustling leaves and looking around sharply. Renamon sprang out of the bush and sailed up towards him with an intimidating roar and the Terriermon yelped and sprang off the grasp, snapping out his ears and taking to the air right as Renamon pounded into the wood behind him.

"What the…!" the Terriermon cried but he banked sharply as Renamon set off in pursuit. Terriermon shot between two trees and whirled back through another pair in a zig-zag fashion, but Renamon bounded from trunk to trunk behind him before springing towards him and lashing out with her sharp claws. Terriermon folded his ears and dropped like a stone, causing Renamon to miss and go sailing over his head. But she flipped around regardless and landed on another trunk as Terriermon unfolded his ears and shot away in the opposite direction low to the ground.

Renamon growled and dropped to the floor, dashing across the forest floor after her prey and swiftly gaining ground on him. She quickly sprang up and took another swipe, but Terriermon pounded his ears upwards and just cleared her paw, flipping over and going the other way, forcing Renamon to slide to a halt and dash after him. Terriermon span about and landed on a nearby rock, dodging Renamon's pounce with a spin and then bouncing up to land on Renamon's head as she whirled around to grab him, before leaping up into the air using her as a springboard and sailing into the sky.

"Damn," Renamon murmured. "This one's good. But not good enough."

With an almighty leap, she flung herself up onto a nearby branch and catapulted herself up at the Terriermon. The bunny Digimon responded by throwing himself into a spinning Terrier Tornado and smacking Renamon in the face and send her flying backwards, but as she did so, she managed to pound him in the side with a claw swipe that caused him to yell and drop to the forest floor nearby as she landed against another tree-trunk.

"Gotcha now," Renamon growled as she sprang upwards and prepared to leap down on him and administer the final blow…

…when a roar of anger caught her attention from her side. Her head snapped around and, to her shock, a blur of yellow shot out of nowhere and cannoned into her, sending her flying backwards to collide painfully with another tree-trunk and yelp in pain as she fell to the ground. Grunting with exertion, she pushed herself back up, to see another Digimon standing protectively over the Terriermon.

Her jaw dropped.

It was another Renamon – identical to her in every external detail.

"How dare you?" the Renamon snarled and sprang forwards again. Renamon balked at the speed and ferocity of the attack and immediately flipped away, but the other Renamon moved with her dodge and slammed a paw into her gut, knocking her backwards painfully and sending her crashing into a rock. A cry of pain was torn from her throat, but when she looked up, she saw the Renamon was flying straight towards her already.

She rolled off the rock as the Renamon's blazing foot slammed into the spot where she'd been with enough force to fracture the rock into gravel and spun around to throw a punch of her own. But her opponent whirled around and caught the blow in her palm and hammered out her other fist to strike her in the side of the face, snapping her snout to the side and sending her ploughing through forest ground with enough momentum to leave a channel in the ground behind her.

She was brought to an abrupt halt by the trunk of a tree, wincing and gritting her teeth at the pain. This Renamon was obviously an incredibly experienced battler, possibly more so than herself, but it was the sheer speed and aggressiveness of the attack that had taken her off guard. She shook her head, trying to clear it, and saw her opponent moving in for the next attack.

Renamon bounded into the air and prepared a Diamond Storm, throwing her arms wide and sending a huge volley of the razor-sharp diamonds lancing down towards the new Renamon. The new Renamon in question narrowed her eyes and, instead of dodging, she caught Renamon totally off guard by _leaping straight into the attack._

Her body twisted in a tight corkscrew, limbs splaying as she whirled forwards, the majority of the shards passing on either side of her body as she span. Those that still would have hit her were, amazingly, batted aside by swift punches and kicks from each of her four limbs and the moment she was clear of the diamond flurry, she straightened outwards and slammed straight into Renamon's stomach, latching onto her and spinning her around to slam her straight towards the ground.

Renamon grunted and quickly slammed her knee into the other Renamon's stomach and kicked her off, launching another Diamond Storm directly upwards at her in an attempt to catch her off guard. But the other Renamon merely smirked and before Renamon knew what was going on, the Terriermon suddenly ploughed into her side with a full-on Terrier Tornado which slammed her aside and sent her Diamond Storm flying above the tree-line…

* * *

…where it was promptly spotted by Yokomon as she perched on a rock beside the lake. "Hey, guys!" she called, waving her stamen and pointing it towards the glittering shards in the distance. "Isn't that Renamon's attack?"

"What?" Lily asked sharply, looking up and widening her eyes immediately at the sight of the diamond flurry. "Ugh, I knew something was going to happen. I felt it in my gut."

Before any of the others could stop her, Lily was immediately dashing towards the trees like a runaway mine train.

"Lily, wait!" Tai cried, hurrying after her. "Come on, Agumon."

"Right behind you," Agumon stated as he ran after his partner.

"Come on, everyone," Sora yelled. "Renamon might need our help."

* * *

The Renamon in question currently had her back against a tree, her white mane held firmly in the grip of the other Renamon, who was holding her claws right in front of her eyes.

"Alright then, whoever you are," the other Renamon growled. "You have precisely five seconds to tell me why you attacked my mate."

That sentence alone through Renamon for a loop. Her eyes shot open and she stammered, "Wha-?" glancing from the other Renamon to the little Terriermon standing nearby. "Y… you're mate? As in… friend-mate or mate-mate?"

"Mate-mate," the Terriermon replied. "And is that such a surprise."

"Of course it is, Terriermon, but that is beside the point," the other Renamon interjected. "The point is why did you attack him like that? Were you seeking to load his data and make yourself stronger?"

"Load his d…? What are you talking about?" Renamon objected, lashing out suddenly and pushing her doppelganger off to square up to her. "I was hungry, alright? I thought he looked like an appetising snack."

"Say what?" Terriermon shuddered. "A snack? For a Renamon? Oh, there was a picture I did not need."

"Momentai," the other Renamon said simply.

"What?" Renamon asked.

"Hey!" Terriermon shouted at the same time.

"So, you were planning on killing him," the other Renamon ignored both of them. "Well, I'm sure you can imagine that that does not make me very happy."

"How was I supposed to know that he had a mate? Or that said mate was another Renamon?" Renamon objected angrily. She paused and then added, "Seriously, how did that happen?"

"_Very_ long story," Terriermon rolled his eyes.

"I can imagine," Renamon muttered dryly.

"Well, next time you go out looking for food, pick on something a bit less sentient than another Digimon," the other Renamon growled.

"Actually, I think that her explanation raises a few questions," said another voice, and Renamon looked around in surprise to see a Lopmon swooping out of the air to land on a nearby boulder. "Like, where are we?"

"Yes, I'd quite like too," agreed yet another voice, and Renamon was astonished to see a small group of beings emerging from the surrounding bushes. Several of them were _humans_ but no human that Renamon had ever laid eyes on. There was an orange-haired girl and a blue-haired boy who both appeared to be slightly older than the rest of the group she was with, and there was a young girl that seemed to be slightly older than TK. But there also an _adult_ human with long brown hair and strange clothes.

And then there were also the other two – the orange-skinned, striped-head-tailed teenage girl and the blue skinned woman, also with head-tails but falling down the back of her head instead of over the front of her shoulders.

"What the…" Renamon stared at the group, the last two in particular. "What is…going on? Who are you guys and… and what are you? You aren't Digimon. And you're not human either? And you're certainly not…" she faltered. She was going to say stars, but she remembered that Lily didn't like people knowing she was a star so she decided that not mentioning them at all, so she finished her sentence with, "…fish."

"Fish?" Terriermon blinked. "What the heck do fish have to do with this?"

"I think I've been eating too many of them," Renamon shook her head.

And it was at that point that Lily chose her moment to appear. "Renamon," she called, dashing into the clearing and standing next to the yellow fox, fists clenched and glaring suspiciously out at the rest of the group. "Are you okay? Who are these guys?"

"Um… Lily, I'm over here," Renamon coughed, leaning out from around the other Renamon and waving to her partner. Lily blinked and looked from her Renamon to the Renamon she was standing next to several times, before the latter Renamon bounded into the air and flipped over to land beside the orange-haired girl nearby, while the white and brown bunnies moved over to the shoulders of the blue-haired boy and the younger girl respectively.

"Oh, a human," the boy smiled. "Great. Can you tell us where we are? We… kinda… landed here late last night and you guys are the first life-forms we've seen anywhere."

Lily glared at them, eyes filled with nothing but suspicion, but Renamon simply murmured, "Seriously? You don't know where you are? Well, you're in the Digital World, on the Continent of Server."

The blue haired boy blinked and the two young girls with him started, and all three of them turned to look at one another. "S…Server?" the boy asked. "Are you… serious?"

"Guys, what's happening?" Tai Kamiya burst into the clearing, tripped on a tree root and almost went falling flat on his face. He would have done if Agumon hadn't darted in to catch him at the last second.

"Thanks, buddy," he murmured. And then he looked up. It took him half a second to notice that there was more than one Renamon on the scene, and, as the rest of the Digi-destined and their assorted partners filed into the clearing, many of them froze to stare at the newcomers in bewilderment and apprehension.

"Who are you?" Izzy asked.

_Oh, my, GOD! _Rika was shouting in her head. _It's the Digi-destined. The actual kids from the TV series in the flesh. And their partners too._

_In their Generation One looks too,_ Henry added. _What in the world is going on?_

_What in the Digital World you mean,_ Lopmon agreed.

_You know these guys?_ Aayla asked.

_Yeah, they're famous fictional characters from our universe, but that's all they are – fiction, _Henry nodded. _They're from the series of Digimon that we told you guys about – how the heck can they be standing here in front of us?_

_I don't know, but who's this girl there,_ Terriermon stared towards Lily. _I think I would know if there was a human girl running around with a Renamon in the TV series and there most certainly was not._

_Human? _Anakin asked. _Oh, she is not human, I assure you._

_What? _Henry blinked.

_I can sense a human when I'm near one,_ Anakin replied. _We all can. Whoever she is, she's not human. And she doesn't particularly feel like a Digimon either, come to think of it._

_She's definitely not a Digimon,_ agreed Renamon.

_Regardless of who they are or what they aren't, we now have a group of suspicious children with powerful Digimon standing there and staring at us,_ Lopmon said quickly. _I seriously think that one of us should start talking._

_True, but I would advise that you not mention the TV show,_ Aayla agreed. _At _any_ point. That would do nothing but freak them all out._

_Good point,_ Rika nodded. _Let's act as if we have no clue who any of them are._

Ahsoka was staring expectantly at the rest of the group, knowing full well that they were in the middle of a mental conversation and seriously annoyed that she could not yet be part of it, but she had not gained access to the mental web yet.

Rika was the first to speak and she said, "Er… hello everybody. My name's Rika Nonaka, and this is my Digimon partner. I… assume that you all know her name, considering you… appear to be hanging around with another of the same Digimon."

"Hello," Renamon nodded, placing a paw over her heart. "It is my pleasure to meet you all."

"Oh, _now_ she's all polite," Lily's Renamon growled. "She attacked me. And she was a damn good fighter," she added with a murmur to Lily. "Whoever she is, she's had a lot of experience."

"You were attacking my mate first," Rika's Renamon replied mild-manneredly. "I apologise for my assault on you, but I must admit that I can get carried away when my friends are in trouble. I have been through quite a lot with them, after all."

"Yeah?" Lily's Renamon raised a brow. "Well, anyway, stay away from me."

Rika's Renamon frowned, realising that this Renamon was very different from herself, but decided to let the matter drop.

"My name's Terriermon," the bunny in question grinned. "And this is my human, Henry Wong."

"Terriermon."

"What? I'm you're Digimon, you're my human. That's the end of it."

"I like this guy," Gomamon grinned.

"And I always liked you too."

"What?" Gomamon blinked.

"Nothing." Terriermon added quickly.

"And I'm Henry's sister, Suzie, and this is my partner, Lopmon," the third Tamer added with a bright smile.

"And I happen to be Terriermon's twin sister," Lopmon added. "And Renamon here is Terriermon's mate."

"Mate?" Gabumon blinked. "Mate as in…?"

"Mate-mate," Terriermon threw in. "Yes, we've already been over that."

"Wow, really?" Agumon breathed. "That's… bizarre. How did you get a girl like her, Terriermon?"

"Why do you ask?" Terriermon grinned slyly at him. "Looking for tips on how to get together with _your_ local Renamon?"

"Wh…what?" Agumon stammered. "D-don't be silly. I was just… curious."

Terriermon shook his head. "You really shouldn't objectify women like that, my friend. I think you'll notice that your friends Yokomon and Palmon are now glaring at you."

"Huh?" Agumon started and glanced over to his right, practically wilting under the glares of both the two flower-headed Digimon. "Just… forget I said anything."

"Alright, fine, we've established who you guys are," Joe began. "But what about the rest of your companions? You're the first adult human we've seen since we got ourselves landed in this crazy place? Do you know a way of getting back to the Human World?"

"Uh… no," Anakin said truthfully. "I'm afraid I do not. My name is Anakin Skywalker."

"That's an odd name," Mimi frowned. "Is it English?"

"Mimi!" Sora elbowed her.

"What?" Mimi blinked in confusion.

"Er… no actually it's from… from… Norway," Anakin finished lamely, picking the first country he filtered out of Terriermon's head and deciding that next time he needed to think of something to go with Henry or Renamon instead.

"And who are the two Digimon with you?" Mimi clasped her hands together. "And where did they get those clothes? Are they some kind of fashion statement? I'm really not sure why but I like them – they so work on you both."

"Er…" Aayla murmured. "Thanks, I guess. But… I am not a Digimon. Nor am I a human. I'm Aayla Secura and this is my young friend Ahsoka Tano."

"Hey," Ahsoka nodded. "Just for the record, I'm not human or Digimon either. Aayla and I are… are… well, I guess you could say that we're aliens. We're not from this universe, nor are we from planet Earth."

"Oh dear," Tentomon sighed. "I already know where this is going." He then looked up at his young human partner, Izzy, who did indeed appear to be on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Aliens…" he rasped. "Real… genuine… aliens? Seriously?"

"Yes," Aayla nodded. "I am a Twi'lek from the planet Ryloth and Ahsoka here is a Togruta from the planet Shili."

"We come in peace?" Ahsoka tried, waving slightly, not really sure what to do in a situation like this.

"Izzy, please try to control yours… oh why, do I bother?" Tentomon sighed as Izzy completely ignored him and dashed over to them, dodging around Renamon and moving to seize Aayla's hand, pulling to a halt moments before impact and suddenly looking embarrassed and nervous as he took the Twi'lek's hand and shook it vigorously.

"It is… it's such a big honour…" he whispered. "To welcome you to… well, not Earth. To welcome you, Miss Aayla. And you miss Ahsoka," he added as he quickly moved past Anakin to shake Ahsoka's hand as well. "I… I have always believed that there might really be aliens out there and now… now… oh my God, this is really happening. This is… this is… this is…"

"Izzy, breathe, for goodness sake!" Tentomon cried. "You're going to pass out!"

Izzy paused and took a deep breath, sitting down on the nearest rock as he tried to take control of himself. He only lasted a second before he started bombarding them both with questions again, such as, "What Galaxy are you from? What are your planets like? What kind of civilisation do you lead? When and how did you get here? How advanced is your technology? Do you know of any other planets out there with life of them besides your own?"

"Hoo boy. I think we've lost him," Matt sighed.

"Still, it is pretty cool, right Matt?" TK cried. "Real live aliens right here in front of us. And they haven't attacked yet so they must be friendly."

"Yeah, totally," Matt grinned. "I have to admit that it is pretty cool."

"At least they're nothing like Vademon, I suppose," Tentomon murmured.

"And I wouldn't be so sure that they're the good guys just yet, TK," Lily murmured, her face stony as she glared suspiciously at every single member of the group. "Back away, Izzy! We don't really know where these guys came from, or what they're doing here or what they want."

"I'm sure they're friendly. After all, they said they are," Tai put in.

"Are you really that dense, Tai," Lily sighed. "Let me tell you something. Myotismon was perfectly friendly to me when he found me all those years ago, just to get him into my good books and allow me to trust him and come to his castle, before he showed his true colours and imprisoned me there. And you've seen what kind of monster that guy is."

"Did you say Myotismon?" Suzie gasped.

Lily immediately rounded on her. "So you know him?"

Suzie yelped and stepped backwards, fear in her eyes. Henry stepped protectively in front of his sister and immediately covered for her with, "No, but we have heard stories about him. And none of them have… ever really been pleasant."

"That's an understatement," Lily snorted, unconvinced. "And how are we supposed to know that you're not really in league with him?"

Renamon – Lily's Renamon – frowned. "Lily, I think that might be a little irrational. After all, you were with Myotismon for years and you've never seen these guys before. Or heard of them for that matter. And I know that I haven't either, so, aren't the chances that they're working for Bat-face… marginal at best?"

"That doesn't mean anything," growled Lily. "That guy had me as a slave for over five years and I know for a fact that if he wanted to, he could get hold of a large number of enemy Digimon from seemingly nowhere. And you know as well as I do that we didn't know _everything_ about him."

Renamon grimaced. "Well, I can't deny that," she muttered.

"Oh, I assure you that we are far from evil," Aayla stated, stepping forwards to smile reassuringly at her. "We may come from an alternate reality, but that does not change the fact that we, by which I mean Anakin, Ahsoka and I, are members of the Jedi Order – a group of beings that are sworn to keep the peace and protect the innocent and good from forces that seek to take their lives, their freedom, or just about anything else from them."

"So, wait…" Matt frowned. "Does that mean that _you_'re not from Earth either?" he pointed at Anakin.

"Nope," Anakin shook his head. "I was raised on a planet called Tatooine," he grimaced at the mention of the name.

"So are you not human then?" Tai blinked.

"Oh no, I'm human," Anakin shook his head. "Very much so. Just not an Earth human like Henry, Rika and Suzie here."

"This sounds like a very overthought fabricated tale to me," Lily snorted.

"Well, they haven't give us much of a reason to distrust them so far," Gabumon pointed out.

"Yeah, and besides, we can always use some more help when it comes to defeating Myotismon," Palmon agreed.

"You guys are all so naïve," Lily growled. "Way too trusting. You all let me into your group without so much as a second thought, and I was originally planning on disposing of you for Myotismon before I turned traitor, wasn't I? How do we know this isn't something similar. If there's one thing I've learned from being a slave to that vampiric git, it's that you should never trust anyone unless they give you a very good reason to first."

"A good reason?" Ahsoka asked. "Like… say… _this!_" She suddenly bounded forwards before anybody else could move and her green lightsaber flashed into life in her hands as she took a flying leap straight towards Lily and her Renamon. The Renamon in question swiftly tried to move in front of Lily to protect her, but Ahsoka span in the air, carrying herself off to the left and swinging her blade through the air and slashing straight through the large, golden scythe of the Phantomon that had just phased through a large tree-trunk to strike at Lily's exposed back.

"Ack!" the Phantomon cried as the blade slashed through the front of his cloak and the blade of his scythe clattered uselessly to the floor. Before he could do anything else, Ahsoka had kicked him straight in the cowl and span around to blast him with the Force and send him smacking back into a tree and pinning him there.

"That…" Phantomon winced. "Was not the plan."

Lily's eyes were wide, realising that Ahsoka had probably just saved her life. Then she growled, her fists clenching. "Phantomon," she snarled as she stepped forwards to confront the Ultimate Ghost Digimon. "Still too cowardly to attack people from the front then, are you?"

"You ought to watch your mouth, traitor," Phantomon scowled at her. "The master is far from pleased with you and the more insults you thrown around the less pleased he is going to be."

"Big whoop for him," Lily folded her arms. "No matter how much more angry he gets, the result would still be the same if he somehow did manage to catch me again. So, is Lipstick-boy planning on coming after me again at last?"

"Not really," Phantomon shook his head. "I just happened to be the area and thought that I'd try and drag you back to the castle. But Myotismon has larger concerns than you right now, traitor. He's been making the final preparations for his departure."

"His… departure…?" Lily blinked. "Myotismon's… leaving? If this is some kind of trick then it's a lousy one."

"Oh no, he's leaving," Phantomon chuckled. "He's been marshalling his forces, preparing his carriage, planning out his domination and all that kind of thing. All that remains is for him to rake in the last of his army, execute Wizardmon and then be on his way."

Lily's blood ran cold as ice immediately at that last sentence. "Execute…? What do you mean, 'execute Wizardmon?'"

"Oh, you didn't know?" Phantomon snickered. "How amusing. But yes, Wizardmon is to be executed the moment that Myotismon departs. After all, Wizardmon failed to report to Myotismon when you confessed to him that you were not going to kill the Digi-destined and that you'd fallen in love with its leader. If DemiDevimon had not overheard you then it may have taken us longer to act. Myotismon does not appreciate any of his subordinates keeping information from him. For _any_ reason, especially something like this."

"No! He can't!" Lily cried, panic rushing into her voice. "That's not fair."

"It's perfectly fair," Phantomon sneered. "Now, farewell, little Star."

"Why you…" Lily snarled and threw a fireball at him, but Phantomon had phased back through the tree that Ahsoka had him pinned against, thereby breaking her hold on him and then vanished straight through the ground. Lily dashed around the tree and flung another fireball futilely at the ground.

She merely stood there, breathing heavily, for several moments, before she looked up towards the horizon, a grim look of resolution appearing on her face, her fists clenching at her sides.

"Oh, I know that look," her Renamon dashed to her side and placed a paw on her side. "Listen, Lily, I know that Wizardmon means a lot to you but please don't do anything foolish. Myotismon is too powerful for us."

"So?" Lily demanded. "Are we just going to let Wizardmon get executed? He didn't report to Myotismon because he was trying to protect me! We can't let him get killed for that!"

"So, you're just going to storm back into that castle of horrors he lives in and rescue him?"

"That's exactly what I'm going to do, yes!"

"Lily, are you mad?" Renamon cried. "That's practically suicide, and if it's not suicide then it's a sure-fire way of getting yourself captured again."

"I don't care," Lily replied stubbornly.

"Isn't Wizardmon the one who was your only other friend when you were a slave of Myotismon?" Joe asked.

"A slave?" Anakin asked sharply.

Lily ignored Anakin but turned to Joe and nodded. "Yeah, that's him. He was always nice to me and treated me with respect and care. Sometimes when I was locked away as a punishment by Myotismon or given really severe wounds, he would use his magical abilities to transport me food or heal me surreptitiously, not enough for Myotismon to notice but enough to make me feel better. And if he really is in line for execution… I just can't let that happen. I'm going. And none of you can stop me. Not even you Renamon."

_What is she anyway?_ Rika murmured. _If she's a human then she's not a regular one? Is throwing fireballs a talent given to you by the Force?_

_If it is, then I've never heard of it,_ Aayla replied.

_That Phantomon called her a little star, _Suzie noted. _Do you think she's really a star?_

_Suzie, you've seen stars close up, _Henry reminded her. _They're large balls of flaming gas exactly like the Sun from planet Earth. She can't be a star._

_Henry, you forget that this is the Digital World,_ Terriermon pointed out. _Not the same as ours, of course, but a Digital World nonetheless. Nothing can be completely ruled out as impossible._

_Good… point,_ Henry murmured.

_Whatever the case, this kid's got guts,_ Anakin stated. _I like her._

_Of course you do. She's a miniature female you,_ Aayla rolled her eyes. _Regardless,_ "This smells like a trap to me," she added out loud. "Lily, isn't it? Your partner has a point. If you're thinking about walking into the stronghold of any powerful being, no matter what your past with the being in particular, then you have to proceed with caution. You need a plan."

"We've never had much of a plan before," Tai turned to face her. "And we're all still here. I agree with Lily – we should get a move on and free this Wizardmon guy."

"Need I remind you Tai that there have been several points in the past where we've only survived by the skin of our teeth," Matt interrupted. "And Myotismon is way more powerful than either Devimon or Etemon were. I agree with these new guys – we need a plan."

"I agree too," Joe nodded. "Remember when we made a battle plan to rescue Sora from the Pyramid, Tai. That still didn't really go the way we wanted it to but we were still more successful than in previous battles."

"Look, you lot!" Lily rounded on the Digi-destined. "We don't have time to plan this out. Wizardmon is in danger soon, and who knows how long it'll be before Myotismon is ready to leave for wherever he's going. We have to go now. I _am_ going now. And _this_ lot," she pointed an accusatory finger at the three Jedi and their own team-mates, "are _not_ coming with us. I don't trust them at all and neither should you if you have any sense."

"Listen, Lily, whoever and whatever you are," Rika stepped forwards. "You might not trust us but we can help. We can give you a hand. You'll need all the help you can get against somebody like Myotismon, right?"

Lily's glare of suspicion only intensified, so Henry added, "Look, we've been on quite a few adventures of our own, and these guys here," he indicated the Jedi. "Are masters of coming up with plans on the spot. They can be unorthodox, bold and occasionally mad, but they work."

"Lily, I do think that we should stay and plan something out first," Sora nodded. "And if these guys want to help them we should let them, I think."

"You don't understand," Lily grimaced, looking down at her own feet. "None of you do really. Besides Renamon, Wizardmon was the _only_ one who really kept me going for most of my time as a slave to Myotismon. None of you know how bad it got for me. The scars on my back – those are only a minor tribute to what happened. None of you know what it's like to live in those conditions, and I owe it to Wizardmon to break him out now."

There was a moment's silence before Anakin suddenly stepped forwards and said, "Listen, kid. You shouldn't be so quick to exclude people. I can tell you now that I know what it's like to be a slave. When I was a kid, I used to be one too."

Lily blinked and looked sharply across at Anakin. "What?" she breathed.

"Yes," Anakin nodded. "Not to an evil Digimon, granted, but I lived on a world where slavery was rife. You couldn't look in any direction without seeing one somewhere. I was beaten, forced to work for very little, starved – you name it, it happened to me. My owner," he said the word bitterly, "Even installed a special explosive chip on the surface of my brain which would detonate if I tried to run away."

Lily's eyes shot open and Anakin looked down at her with face grim. "Yeah," he nodded. "Exactly. Watto, for that was his name, might not have been as bad as this Myotismon of yours, but I know just what you're going through. What I really want to do is figure out a way of getting back to my universe and fast, for there is currently an interplanetary war going on there which I and my friends are very much needed in. But… I'm going to take some time out of that search in order to help you rescue your friend."

Lily held Anakin's eyes for several moments, and then glanced across at the rest of the group he had arrived with. Ahsoka nodded to her, and the rest of them took a couple of steps forwards to stand at the ready. Lily grimaced, but eventually she murmured, "Fine. I'm still not totally sure about you lot, but I suppose I can cut you all a little slack."

"Then you'll let us help?" asked Terriermon.

"I'll be keeping an eye on you, but yes," Lily nodded.

At that point, a large podium seemed to rise out of the ground for no apparent reason, startling everyone in the clearing. Said podium turned out to be a holotransmitter, which began to display the image of a short, elderly man with a long white moustache.

"Hey, it's Gennai!" Izzy cried.

"Greetings children," the elderly man nodded. "It took me a while to find you all but now that you're here, I've got some good news and some bad news."

"According to the show," Henry murmured, as the Digi-destined and their partners gathered around the hologram. "This is the point where they learn about an eighth Digi-destined child will be joining them, and that Myotismon will be heading the Human World to try and find her and kill her before she can meet up with them."

"Yes, but there was nothing about Wizardmon being put to death in the show," Rika nodded. "This is as much a new development as this weird Lily girl is."

"Is he important then?" Ahsoka nodded.

Henry explained. "He's imperative. Who knows what other effects this Lily might have on future events, but Wizardmon was the one who found the Digivice of the eighth child, and made another of Myotismon's Digimon, Gatomon, remember that she was said child's chosen Digimon. He then rebels against Myotismon, steals a special device from him called a Crest, which allows the partners of the Digi-destined to reach the Ultimate Level and then sacrifices himself to ensure that Gatomon and her partner survives to digivolve and destroy Myotismon."

"So if he were to die now then he would not be able to do any of those things," Aayla mused. "I guess this means that we have to make sure he stays alive."

"Agreed. But… well, actually going to this castle might be beneficial to us too," Henry thought. "Myotismon and the Digi-destined both use a special portal gate beneath Myotismon's fortress to get to the human world, but according to the anime, it goes to many other places too. There might be a way for us to get back to your universe, Anakin."

"And back to ours?" Suzie asked.

Henry bit his lip. "Maybe. I don't know."

"Then it sounds like we have a double-mission," Renamon nodded. "Let's do what we have to do."

* * *

The dark, cloaked figure of Myotismon sat tall in his chair, staring down at the ten cards on the table in front of him, analysing the various Digimon that were printed on them and shuffling them around from time to time, trying to figure out which ones he would have to place in which slots on the terminal before the portal, and which of the ten was the fake.

"Hey boss," DemiDevimon flapped over to perch on the side of the desk next to him. "Have you figured out the answer yet?"

"Not yet, but I am close," Myotismon responded simply. "I now merely have to decide which of these two particular cards is the fake, as I have narrowed it down to just them. As soon as I have figured that out, we shall be able to depart for the human world and track down that eighth child."

"Great," DemiDevimon nodded. "I knew that you'd figure it out easy, Master. Is there anything else that you need me to do before we leave? Gatomon and my reinforcements are assembled and ready for action."

Myotismon grimaced. "No, DemiDevimon, I do not require your services at present. The only thing that would have made this a greater triumph would be if that traitor Lily were back in my service. But it seems that cannot be helped for now. But I shall return one day to track her down and reclaim her as my own."

"My lord, I have news," Phantomon stated as he rose up out of the floor by the door. "Very important news."

Myotismon looked up to scowl through his red mask. "It had better be important."

"Not important per se, but certainly news you will want to here. Lily is on her way here as we speak."

"What?" Myotismon's eyes widened fractionally. "How do you know this? And why would she risk herself to come back here? Have the Digi-destined somehow learned of my plan to eradicate the eighth child?"

"That, I do not know, my lord. But I did run into Lily earlier and tried to take her prisoner, but I was stopped by some strange new Digimon that I've never seen before. Still, before I escaped, I told Lily that you were planning to execute Wizardmon. And if that doesn't bring her running then I don't know what will."

"Execute Wizardmon?" DemiDevimon blinked. "But you had no such plans did you, your Evilness?"

Myotismon now had a smirk on his face. "Indeed I did not," he smirked. "Wizardmon has proven an asset to me many a-time, but it is true that he and Lily were… close. Excellent work, Phantomon. Lily's greatest flaws are her stubbornness and her inability to think things through before acting. I believe she will indeed come running."

"Thank you, my lord," Phantomon bowed.

"I suppose we can stave off our departure for a few more hours," Myotismon nodded. "Go, both of you. Marshal our reinforcements. Tell them to be ready for a fight. I want as many of the Digi-destined killed as possible and Lily and her precious Renamon to be taken prisoner." He sneered. "Soon, you shall be back in my clutches, my pet. I know you too well."

* * *

It took them about an hour but eventually the group were at the foot of the enormous castle where Myotismon resided. The three Jedi had to suppress shivers at the sight of it – their senses through the Force were telling them that this was a place of extreme evil. They could detect many terrible forces from within, but there was one particular evil which trumped the rest. It was worse than Ventress, worse than Dooku, worse than anybody they had ever encountered in their own universe.

"Alright, we're here," Gabumon whispered. "Now what do we do?"

"The first thing we'll have to do is get inside of course," Lily's Renamon murmured. "After that, we should probably be expecting a fight. No doubt Myotismon is aware that we may be coming thanks to Phantomon, and that ghost also mentioned he was marshalling an army."

"Great, another dangerous battle situation," Joe sighed.

"What about after we get inside besides fighting?" Aayla questioned.

"If Wizardmon is soon to be executed then he's likely to be in the cell block near the base of the castle," Lily murmured. "There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of Digimon trapped there at any one time. Myotismon would often kill them for his pleasure or even pit them against each other… or against me and Renamon to try and train us up."

"That despicable creature," Anakin growled.

"Master, steady yourself," Ahsoka placed a hand on his arm. "Don't go doing anything that you might regret."

Anakin flinched as if struck, but he managed to marginally suppress his emotions, though his face still clearly displayed his intense anger.

"In that case, we should split up," Aayla stated. "Some of us should remain behind to both take on and distract any potential resistance we meet, while the rest of us should sneak off to the cells. Since Lily and Renamon know the way there, they will have to be part of that group, but for the rest of us… well, it's your decision really."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Yokomon shuddered. "If we split up then what if one group finds themselves up against Myotismon or something."

"Good point," Sora agreed. "We might need all of us together to take on someone as powerful as him."

"Ah, but that's where we have a trump card, you see," Lopmon smiled. "You see, Terriermon and Renamon here are mates. And that means that they have a special mental link with one another, so they can talk telepathically no matter how far apart they are."

"Whoa, really?" TK gasped.

"Prodigious, that's astonishing," Izzy breathed.

"The mating bond?" Lily's Renamon's eyes shot open. "Of course! How could I forget about something like that? What's it like?"

"It's quite something," the other Renamon chuckled. "But I also cannot shut off my mind from his so every insane, stupid or… disturbing thought that passing through his head is automatically picked up in mine."

"Wow. I wonder if I'll ever have that experience."

"Mating bond?" Lily frowned.

"Yeah, it's a natural occurrence in my Digimon type. Any Renamon who chooses a mate gains a telepathic link with him the moment the deal is closed, so to speak."

"You never mentioned this before."

"You never asked."

"Anyway," Anakin agreed. "If Terriermon stays and fights with the first group and Renamon comes with the second group, then if anything happens to one group, the other will immediately know about it. We can also guide our two groups back together through them before we press on together to find the portal."

"Wizardmon should be able to lead us to that," Lily nodded. "He always knew more about the layout of the castle than I did anyway. Damn that vampire for never letting me know that he had one."

"Right then, so how are we meant to get up there?" Mimi asked, pointing up towards the castle. "We can't walk in the front door, right?"

"Don't worry," Agumon grinned, pulling a large bushy wig from hammer space and placing on his head and then placing his arm around Palmon's shoulder. The Rookie in question did the same thing to him, the flower on her head covered with another wig that resembled a set of dreadlocks.

"We'll slip inside with these disguises and then we can haul you up from one of the windows," Palmon grinned.

"Where the hell did you get those wigs?" Terriermon blinked.

Agumon frowned. "Actually, I don't know."

"Well, regardless, take them off. They look stupid," Terriermon rolled his eyes. "We've got a better idea, right, Rena."

Renamon nodded. "Rika," she turned to her partner.

"Gotcha," Rika smirked. "How's this for a magic trick?" she added, flicking a card out of her deck and flipping it around to slash it through her D-Arc. "Digi-modify! Hyper Wing activate!"

The Digi-destined, their partners, Lily and the other Renamon watched in astonishment as Terriermon's mate sprouted a set of shimmering white wings. She smiled and said, "All aboard," wrapping an arm around Rika and presenting her other arm to Sora. The young girl hesitantly stepped over and allowed the fox to grip her and then shoot upwards towards the window of a nearby tower, Yokomon grasped in both of Sora's own arms.

"How come she can do that and I can't?" Lily's Renamon scowled.

"I knew you'd say that," Lily murmured. "And I don't have an answer for you I'm afraid."

Henry and Suzie swiftly enthused their own partners with Strength cards, allowing the bunnies to effortlessly carry their respective Tamers upwards beside Renamon. The moment they had deposited their loads, all three of them swooped back down to pick up someone else. The three Jedi glanced at each other for a moment, and then all three of them ran forwards and leapt right onto the wall of the castle. To the astonishment of the assorted crowd, they actually began to scale it right before their eyes, using the Force to help support their own weight as they moved up the vertical heavy stone blocks with almost no effort whatsoever.

They managed to get everybody upwards relatively quickly, though Lily was still reluctant to let Rika's Renamon near her and Lily's own Renamon found the experience of being carried upwards by the small white bunny she had tried to hunt that morning totally humiliating. And of course, Joe panicked halfway up and Renamon had to clap a paw over his mouth to keep him from giving them all away.

The three Jedi having flipped themselves into the window a while ago, that left the whole group together now within the castle walls. Agumon and Palmon tossed their wigs out of the window and the latter sighed and said, "Actually, I'm kinda glad we didn't have to go through with that idea. We did look ridiculous in those things."

"Yeah, but I still thought it was a good plan," Agumon murmured dejectedly.

"Aww, there there Agumon," Palmon patted his shoulder. "We'll use your plan next time."

"Alright then Lily," Tai smiled. "Lead the way to those cells and we'll handle the rest."

"I can't believe I'm back in here," Lily's fists were clenched together and her expression was dark, but she shook herself and jerked her head towards the nearest door. "It's this way."

Lily led the group through several hallways, each one darker and gloomier than the last and it did not take long for the Digi-destined to lose their bearings completely. Almost right off the bat they began to notice various oddities that made them want to stop and stare, including upside down flaming torches and completely doorways that seemed to have everything beyond it tilted at a strange angle, but these were all ignored by Lily and her Renamon as she led them down a couple of flights of stairs and quickly rounded another corner.

However, as each of them had been expecting, it took them practically no time at all before they ran into their first sign of trouble.

* * *

Lily pulled sharply to a halt and growled when she saw who was standing in front of her after a couple of minutes of nothing. Everybody else almost piled into her, but they managed to avoid it as they moved around her to try and get a better view.

"Well, well," DemiDevimon smirked. "If it isn't the little star who thought that she could run away. What are you doing here? Decided to come crawling back to beg for mercy have you?"

"Oh, how I hate you, you little ball of brainlessness," Lily scowled. "Where's Wizardmon?"

"Wizardmon?" DemiDevimon questioned. "Oh, so that's why you're back is it? Guess you must have heard about the Master's plans for him. Yeah, Wizardmon's not gonna be alive for much longer but I'm sure he'll die happy in the knowledge that you decided to hand yourself over to the Master on a silver platter."

"Why you…" Lily growled and jumped forwards. DemiDevimon leapt into the air and swooped backwards.

"Nanimon!" he called. "They're all yours."

"Right!" yelled a nearby Digimon that charged out from a door off to the left and skidded to a halt in front of the irate star. He resembled a squat wrestler with a heavy beard and thick dark sunglasses, and no neck whatsoever – his whole body seemed to be comprised of a large head with limbs. "Men!" he called, and various assorted Digimon poured out from nearby doors, including Numemon, Vegiemon and a Sukamon complete with Chuumon, who all formed a barrier in front of the group.

"You won't get past us. No matter how powerful your star powers are," Nanimon crowed. "Me and my men had been training for this moment and now we're going to lay down the law."

"Oh dear Lord," sighed Ahsoka. "Do you want to take this one, Master? Or shall I?"

"Let's go for a two-fer," suggested Anakin, and then both sprang into the air to flip over Lily's head and land in front of her, lashing out with their hands and sweeping them to the sides, flinging every single Digimon except Nanimon painfully into the nearby walls with the Force and reducing them to groaning piles. Nanimon hesitated, and just had enough time to see Aayla diving straight over Lily and spinning around to plant a fierce kick straight in the middle of Nanimon's face, breaking his sunglasses and sending him flying backwards as if shot from a cannon.

DemiDevimon balked and dodged as Nanimon crashed into the wall and fell, unconscious. He balked again when all three Jedi raised their lightsaber hilts and activated the blades. "Ack! I'm getting of here!" he yelled. "Somebody! They're here! Get them!"

He shot away into a nearby door and before the group could set off in pursuit a huge set of doors opened on the other side to reveal an enormous Mammothmon directly on the other side, who stomped in to bellow a deep throated roar at the group. Through two smaller doors on either side of him appeared a Tuskmon and a Snimon, who both growled angrily and flexed their claws and scythes respectively closing in on the group.

"Looks like it's time to fight," Tai observed.

"For some of us yes," Anakin nodded. "But remember the plan. We've got to find Wizardmon as well."

"I've got this," Terriermon nodded. "Who's with me?"

"I'm in!" Gomamon cried.

"I'll join you too!" Tentomon nodded.

"As will I," Palmon raised her hand.

"Okay, I'll stay too," nodded Ahsoka. "The rest of you should probably get going. Now!" she added as the Mammothmon suddenly barrelled straight towards them.

"Come on, let's go Lily!" Renamon shouted, grabbing her partner and steering her towards another corridor as the volunteered Digimon sprang in to engage the Mammothmon and his associate while the rest of the group hurried after Lily and her partner.

"Digivolve, quick!" Joe shouted as he, Mimi and Izzy bunched together and raised their Digivices. Their three Digimon promptly burst into light and did just that as they hurtled forwards, joining battle in mid-digivolution.

"**TENTOMON DIGIVOLVE TO… KABUTERIMON!"**

"**PALMON DIGIVOLVE TO… TOGEMON!"**

"**GOMAMON DIGIVOLVE TO… IKKAKUMON!"**

Aayla took one brief moment to glance back and the enormous insect, the giant boxing cactus and the gigantic walrus-like creature that emerged from the light. "Impressive," she murmured, before she turned and sprinted right after the rest.

The Mammothmon pulled to a halt when Kabuterimon crashed into its face, grabbing hold of its tusks with his second pair of hands while placing the other pair straight over its single eye, which was indeed what it saw out of despite it seeming to be painted on the armour of his face. Mammothmon growled as his vision was obscured and lashed upwards with his trunk, slamming Kabuterimon in the leg before tossing his head to toss him aside.

Kabuterimon spun in mid-air and folded his arms over his chest to cry, **"ELECTRO SHOCKER!"** and unleashed a huge sphere of crackling pink electricity that slammed into Mammothmon's shoulder and caused him to stagger a little, leaving room for Togemon to dart in a deliver a solid punch to the side of Mammothmon's head with one gloved fist. Mammothmon bellowed as his head was knocked to the side still further and swung himself around, disorientated.

Which gave Ikkakumon all the opportunity he need to slam him in the side with a surprisingly agile tackle for such a bulky Digimon. Mammothmon was shoved to the side and only just managed to keep his footing, trying to clear his head as he did so.

Tuskmon and Snimon darted in from either side of Mammothmon and charged towards Togemon and Ikkakumon respectively. Tuskmon threw himself at the giant cactus and rammed the top of his head into her stomach to send her crashing backwards, which turned out to be a very bad idea because he reeled backwards with a roar of agony, several large needles embedded in the top of his head.

"Heh, that's nothing," Togemon smirked as she rolled herself to her feet. **"NEEDLE SPRAY!"** She threw herself into a spin and lanced out dozens more needles directly at the Tuskmon, who snarled and shook himself as they embedded themselves in his hide, allowing Togemon to dart in and pound him in the face with a giant glove and send him crashing into the wall.

Ikkakumon had a less easy time of it than Togemon. He managed to throw himself backwards to avoid the initial slashes from Snimon's large scythes and threw himself forwards a moment later to ram Snimon in the front, jamming his horn painfully into the giant bug's abdomen. Snimon hissed and lashed out with his large feet to kick Ikkakumon backwards, throwing himself into the air and throwing a pair of energy blades downwards from above. Ikkakumon tried to dodge but he was too slow and then slammed him in the side, causing him to cry out in pain as he was flung into the wall with a colossal thud.

"Ikkakumon! No!" Joe cried.

Snimon cackled as he bore down on Ikkakumon, who was struggling to his feet, with single scythe raised for the final blow.

"Not today, you!" Kabuterimon swooped in from nowhere and blindside the other bug, grabbing him by the sickles with his four arms and grappling with him as they both crashed to the ground nearby in a tangle of exoskeleton. Kabuterimon quickly overpowered Snimon and spun him around to fling him into the air, right into the path of a volley of Harpoon Torpedoes from Ikkakumon which exploded against his back and sent _him_ crashing into the wall instead.

"Thanks for the save, Kabuterimon," Ikkakumon called over to his fellow Champion.

"No problem," Kabuterimon replied. He then turned around to see Mammothmon was getting back in the game. "Whu-oh," he added.

"**TUSK CRUSHER!"** Mammothmon bellowed and the tips of his tusks shot outwards to fire directly towards Kabuterimon. The bug hurriedly lifted himself into the air and shot over the top of them, but they cured upwards and followed him into the air, and considering they were still indoors, Kabuterimon had no room to manoeuvre. But more help was at hand as another volley of Harpoon Torpedoes lanced in from below to intercept the tusks and detonate them moments before they sliced into Kabuterimon's wings.

The two Champions quickly turned round to face the Ultimate as it thundered towards them again, dashing in front of their partners to shield them and leaping forwards to crash right into him, straining against the larger Digimon with all their strength to try and keep him away… and still being forced backwards gradually by his sheer power.

Meanwhile, Togemon was completely owning the Tuskmon. The dinosaur Digimon seemed to have no defence against her attacks, his body filled to the brim with needles as the cactus Digimon rained punch after punch on top of him beating his head against the wall several times and then slamming him in the gut with another terrific blow.

"Shame you're not a herbivore," Togemon chuckled. "Because if you were, this would be ironic."

A loud growling hiss caught her attention from behind and she suddenly turned around to see the Snimon shooting down towards her with both sickles raised. She quickly fired a spray of needles at him but his tough exoskeleton simply allowed them to bounce off and he slashed down, gouging a huge pair of slashes across Togemon's front and causing her to cry out in pain as she fell back against the wall.

Snimon raised his blades, but again he was interrupted – this time by a hail of green bullets that lanced out of nowhere.

Snimon shrieked and staggered to the side, trying to shield himself with his blades. Togemon looked round to see a Gargomon charging straight towards them, firing a continuous round of swift blasts from the cannons at the end of his arm. He then sprang into the air and pounded Snimon in the side of the head to send him crashing into a nearby wall.

"Good punch," Togemon complimented.

"Thanks," nodded Gargomon, whirling around to unleash another round of laser flashes at Tuskmon as he tried to scramble to his feet. "Hey, Ahsoka! Can you give us a hand?"

"Already on it!" Ahsoka cried as she dashed forwards towards the two Champions straining against the Mammothmon. With amazing speed and precision she sprang straight onto Ikkakumon's back and dashed up his neck, springing right off it and grabbing one of Kabuterimon's long arms and swing upwards again to seize the enormous horn on the beetle's nose and span around it like a pole to fling herself directly towards Mammothmon's face, her lightsaber flashing into her hand as she did so.

With a cry, Ahsoka jammed her blade straight into Mammothmon's face. The Ultimate Digimon shrieked and reared upwards, tossing the two Champions backwards in the process. Ahsoka withdrew her blade and backflipped off, landing on one of Mammothmon's large tusks. Mammothmon jerked his head to the side wildly, but Ahsoka clung on like a limpet, so the Digimon tried to swing up his trunk and swat at her. Ahsoka sprang up and over the strike, slashing downwards as she landed on the other tusk, slashing into Mammothmon's trunk as she passed before springing off again to land nearby.

Mammothmon practically squealed in agony, and he was then struck in the side by both Kabuterimon and Ikkakumon. Gargomon turned to Togemon and said, "You go and help those two against Big and Woolly. Ahsoka and I will handle these two."

"Got it," Togemon clambered to her feet. **"LIGHTSPEED JABBING!"** she added as she charged straight towards the reeling Mammothmon. Gargomon turned around to see Tuskmon rearing up and bearing down on him, roaring as he charged him head on. Gargomon dodged deftly and hammered the side of his head, spinning around to Bunny Pummel the base of one of the huge tusks coming out of his shoulder so hard it snapped and went flying to the side, striking Snimon in the stomach and knocking him backwards.

As Gargomon opened fire on the struggling Tuskmon, Ahsoka held her blade ready as she stood in front of the towering Snimon. "Care to test your blades against mine?" she asked.

Snimon growled and sprang straight towards her.

* * *

The rest of the group had run into trouble already. Lily had led them down several more flights of stairs and across several bridges in the middle of a large central structure, calling to them to not look anywhere but straight ahead or they would get confused. They were still a few levels up from the prison cells when they entered another relatively large room to find several enemies already waiting for them.

"Greetings, Digi-destined," Gatomon smirked, displaying her claws prominently in front of her. "I've been looking forward to finally meeting you all face to face. And you lead them all straight to their dooms, did you, Lily? How very thoughtful of you. That's the sort of thing we wanted from you to being with."

"Have I mentioned how much I hate your guts, Gatomon?" Lily glared at her.

Gatomon scowled back. "You humiliated me, star! You tricked me when I had you prisoner and you managed to escape from me. Lord Myotismon was very angry, and you know better than most what he can be like when he's angry."

"Yes, but somehow that side of him is slightly more tolerable when you are the target of it," Lily replied. "Who are your friends?"

"You're the one we should be asking that of. Somehow you seem to have pulled a few more humans out of nowhere. But they'll be eliminated just the same. As to my _own_ friends," she indicated the hulking beings over the top of her. "This is SkullMeramon, and this is Raremon. And this lot are the Gizamon," she nodded to the swarms of smaller Digimon all around her. "We know why you're here, Lily, and there's no way you'll be getting past us."

"Where's Batface then, Kitty-cat?" Lily's Renamon growled. "Is he not going to grace us with his presence?"

"Myotismon has more to concern himself with than a pitiful group of kids," Gatomon sniffed. "Now, shall we dance."

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this one," Lily growled.

"Wait, Lily," Renamon murmured in her ear. "We still need to find Wizardmon and get him to safety."

"This won't take but a minute," Lily replied, throwing herself forwards, her hands igniting in flames and hurling them straight towards Gatomon. The cat Digimon lithely bounded over the top of it and landed on all fours, dodging to the left and then the right as flames slammed into the floor around her. She threw herself straight towards Lily with claws splayed and Lily dodged to the side with a roll and struck out at the cat as the flew past, but Gatomon span herself through the air to avoid the blow and landed on all fours, leaping up again to slash at Lily's face.

Lily swung her arm in from the side to bat Gatomon's paw away and kicked up at the flying cat, who grabbed her by the ankle with her tail to swing herself around Lily's body and slash again, forcing Lily to leap backwards as she conjured more fire out of nowhere.

"Don't just stand there!" Gatomon called to the rest of her forces in the room. "Do something!"

SkullMeramon was the first to react and immediately thundered forwards, his chains alighting with blue flames as he seized one in his hand and flung it straight towards Tai and Matt. Both of them started backwards and their partners rushed to their defence, but Aayla beat them to it and bounded in front of them with blade at the ready to slash straight through the end of the chain and repel it back towards its caster. SkullMeramon growled and charged forwards with more chains at the ready, Raremon and the Gizamon all close behind him.

"Thanks for the assist, Aayla," nodded Tai. "But now it's our turn, right Agumon?"

"Gotcha," Agumon nodded.

"Hold on, Tai," Matt interrupted. "Don't we need to focus on rescuing the prisoners?"

"Yeah, but we still need to get past these guys to reach the prisoners," Tai reminded him. "They're blocking the only exit, so we'll have to fight our way through."

"Good point," Matt murmured.

"Let's do this," Gabumon cried as he and Agumon both charged forwards, bursting into light as they did so.

"**AGUMON DIGIVOLVE TO… GREYMON!"**

"**GABUMON DIGIVOLVE TO… GARURUMON!"**

As the enormous horned dinosaur and the equally large blue-furred wolf appeared out of the smaller Digimon, both of them immediately stormed towards most powerful opponent, SkullMeramon. Momentarily blinded by the light of digivolution, SkullMeramon pulled to a halt, only to be rammed by a double tackle from Greymon's huge head and Garurumon's massive paws, and tossed backwards across the room to plough through several Gizamon.

"You take out the slimy one while I hold the big guy off," Greymon growled.

"On it," Garurumon growled, turning to face the charging Raremon. The disgusting Digimon launched a Breath of Decay right at him but Garurumon threw himself into the air and flew straight over the attack, which splatted against the back wall. **"HOWLING BLASTER!"** he added as he fell, unleashing a huge stream of bluish flames that enveloped the other Champion, eliciting a shriek of pain from him as he reeled backwards. Garurumon slammed into him moments later, ignoring the fire of his own attack as he smashed Raremon against the wall, splattering large bits of him everywhere.

"Ugh," he added as his back was coated in slime. "Maybe I should just fry you instead of getting too close."

Raremon snarled and shoved Garurumon back, lashing out with one enormous, gelatinous hand. Garurumon instinctively snapped at it and closed his jaws around it, which turned out to be a bad idea for though he successfully destroyed the hand with a horrible squelch, his mouth was filled with the most foul tasting thing he had _ever_ put in there. He retched and almost fell over, allowing Raremon's other hand to smack him across the face and send him rolling.

Meanwhile Greymon had charged SkullMeramon again and was attempting to shove him back into the wall and pin him there until he received some more back-up. But SkullMeramon had other plans, slamming Greymon underneath his chin with one giant fist and then lifting up a foot to kick him in the chest and knock him backwards. He then added the final touch by spinning around to whip two powerful chains into Greymon's stomach and send him crashing onto his back. Greymon quickly scrambled upwards as SkullMeramon advanced towards him.

"**NOVA BLAST!"** he tried, unleashing a huge fireball from his mouth that sailed towards the Ultimate. But before it could hit, a large transparent shield suddenly appeared between it and its target, causing it to splash uselessly against it.

"What the…" Greymon blinked.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Taomon stated as she soared up next to him. "SkullMeramon are capable of absorbing fire attacks and using them to power themselves up."

"Wait, Taomon…" Greymon frowned. "Which one are you?"

"I am Rika's Taomon," Taomon chuckled. "Do you need some assistance?"

Greymon chuckled. "Never be too proud to say no."

"Good to hear."

SkullMeramon's chains pounded against the shield to little effect, but moments later and Taomon dropped it, flinging a Talisman Star which sliced through the chains again, allowing Greymon to charge forwards and swing himself around to club SkullMeramon in the face with his mighty tail. SkullMeramon crashed into the wall with enough force to imprint it, only to find himself peppered with Thousand Spells from Taomon's sleeves.

"**METAL FIREBALL!" **he roared, unleashing a huge blast of molten blue flames from his mouth, which Taomon and Greymon hurried dodged aside from. The blast went sailing away to strike Raremon in the side, causing him to squeal as more flames washed over him. Garurumon promptly took advantage of this and added his own flames to the mix, obliterating Raremon into data before he could recover.

Meanwhile…

"How did you manage to digivolve your partner straight to the Ultimate stage?" Renamon protested to Rika.

"That's one of the advantages of being a Tamer," Rika smirked.

"Come on, Renamon," Turuiemon stepped forwards, having digivolved at the same time as Taomon. "We have a small army of Gizamon to intercept."

The Gizamon in question were throwing themselves around the other combatants to throw themselves directly towards the small group, claws extended. Some of them threw themselves into the air to roll like large buzzsaws thanks to their back spikes and sailed straight towards the children.

Turuiemon sprang forwards and stabbed straight into one of the flying Gizamon with a blade, whirling around to slash both up another and flipping onto her hands to perform a spinning kick to knock two more out of the air. She bounded back onto her feet and performed three lightning kicks to the ground-based Gizamon to send them flying away, then backflipped into the air to launch a large Gauntlet Claw down on the group, causing shrieks as the energy blades ploughed through several ranks.

Renamon bounded up next to her and supplied her own combat skills, seizing one of the spinning Gizamon by a horn with startling precision and whirling him around to toss his scything body straight into his own comrades. She immediately threw herself into a spinning kick to knock three more flying, then seized another pair in her paws to bash their heads together, flinging them both to the sides where one crashing into the wall and the other met a quick end at the hands of Turuiemon.

Anakin and Aayla were both protecting the rest of the kids from the Gizamon, holding out their hands to create something like a barrier with the Force. Any Gizamon that got within several feet of them was instantly repelled backwards as they both combined their Force prowess into the same move as they quickly had another internal conference with the Tamers.

_That Lily is trying to kill Gatomon,_ Henry pointed out as Gatomon was flung back into the wall by a lucky fireball from the star, landing on her feet and hissing angrily as she leapt back into the hand. _Gatomon is a Champion level Digimon and an experienced one so she should be able to handle herself, but we can't take that risk. She's got to be allowed to live so she can meet up with her partner._

_What do you guys think we should do?_ Rika asked.

_Aayla,_ Anakin turned to his fellow Jedi. _Why don't you go and take over the fight with Gatomon? Remind Lily that this is not the time for personal vengeance and that they need to rescue the slaves. The rest of you can hold the enemy here, while I press on with the Digi-destined, Lily, Rika and both Renamons to the prison cells. You can make sure that Gatomon makes it out of the fight alive, right Aayla?_

_I can indeed,_ Aayla nodded. _I'll go do it now._ She darted straight forwards, activating her lightsaber and spinning it around her like a wall of blue to plough through the Gizamon horde and obliterate at least eleven of them before they knew what was happening. She drew level with Lily and flew past her before she realised what was going on, leaping around to kick the surprised Gatomon right in the chest and send her smacking into the wall again.

"Hey, this is my fight, not yours!" Lily yelled at the Twi'lek.

"This is not anybody's single fight, regardless of what might have happened in the past, Lily," Aayla reminded her. "We came here to free Wizardmon and stop Myotismon, not settle a vendetta with a cat. There's an opening to the other end of the room now. You have to take Anakin and the others to the prison cells. I'll deal with this feline."

"She's my oppon…"

"There is no time for childish vengeance," Aayla frowned at her. "Just get going. Don't just do what you want, do what is right."

Lily hesitated for a moment as Gatomon pushed herself back to her feet, but then she growled and said, "Fine. Renamon, let's go. Take the others through there. I'll be right behind you."

"Got it," nodded Renamon. "Come on then!" she belted through the remaining Gizamon and Anakin set off in pursuit with the rest of the children, except Matt and Suzie, who were both staying behind. Anakin cleared the way through with a simple wave of his hand and they dashed towards the door, Taomon splitting away from the double combat against SkullMeramon to join them.

"Looks like I can't finish this myself, kitty-cat," Lily snarled to Gatomon, as she turned around and ran after the rest. "Make sure that she doesn't get out alive, Aayla."

Crossing her fingers mentally, Aayla said, "Don't worry, I've got this," before she turned back to face Gatomon.

"So, you're my opponent now?" Gatomon growled.

"I would rather not fight you," Aayla replied, hefting her blade. "But apparently I do not have much a choice. But let me ask you something first – who are you? Who are you really?"

"I am Gatomon, loyal servant of Myotismon," Gatomon smirked. "I always have been."

"Have you?" Aayla raised a brow. "Have you really? I do not sense any evil coming from you, Gatomon, as I do with the majority of the rest of this castle. I do not think that you are really a bad person. Perhaps you have merely… lost your way."

Gatomon blinked, and suddenly clutched at her head as an image flashed through her head, of a lonely Nyaromon sitting and shivering in a snowstorm and waiting for… for something. But then she was back in the present and she flexed her claws.

"Shut up!" she growled, launching herself at Aayla, and the Twi'lek prepared to pull off a staged fight of ferocity as she had done when Luminara had been infected by the Geonosian brain worm.

* * *

"This way. Just a few more flights," Renamon cried as she bounded down the stairs, Anakin and the rest of the group right behind her. Lily was running along at the back, worry for Wizardmon creeping back up inside her once again now that her anger at the presence of Gatomon had abated a little. She was already cursing herself for letting herself get distracted. Who knew what horrible tortures that Wizardmon had been going through these past few days.

As it turned out though, not many.

"Lily?" said a voice from behind her, which caused Lily to pull to a halt in shock and wheel around. The rest of the group pressed on, having not heard the voice, but Lily's eyes widened when she saw Wizardmon standing in the corridor behind her with wide eyes.

"Wizardmon!" Lily gasped, rushing back to him and immediately throwing her arms around the startled Champion-level Digimon. Wizardmon almost fell backwards but he quickly embraced Lily back and then broke the hug almost straight away, staring wildly into her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Wizardmon demanded. "Are you insane, coming back to Myotismon's castle like this?"

"But… but Wizardmon," Lily protested. "Phantomon said that Myotismon was going to execute you. How… how did you…" she paused, blinking, and then a slow growl began to build up in the back of her throat. "That sneaky, deceitful little windbag! He lied, didn't he?"

"So that's why everybody was mobilising," Wizardmon blinked. "Nobody was telling me what was going on? But Lily, this is madness. I am touched that you thought I was in danger, but regardless of my well-being you shouldn't have come back here. Myotismon is too strong. And if he finds you here then he'll lock you in chains for the rest of your life and torture you for all eternity. Please, you must leave."

"I… I can't leave, Wizardmon," Lily shook her head. "I have to help the Digi-destined stop him from finding that eighth child, even if you're really okay."

Wizardmon frowned. "So you heard about that too then. Well, that bit isn't a lie but…"

"Wizardmon, tell me where the gate is," Lily said quickly.

"What?" Wizardmon's eyes widened.

"Please. If I can somehow sabotage that gate and stop him from leaving then I can stop him from tracking down that eighth kid and… and…"

"And what?" Wizardmon raised a brow.

"And… nothing…" Lily said quickly, but it seemed that Wizardmon knew her too well.

"And the Digi-destined might not be able to go home themselves," Wizardmon replied. "And that Tai boy will have to stay here with you. Is that it?"

"No!" Lily denied quickly. To be honest that was only a fleeting thought that had passed through her head, but her main motive was indeed to stop Myotismon from going to wreak havoc on the Human World and finding the Eighth child.

"You know I do not approve of this relationship between you and this…" Wizardmon began.

"Spare me the lecture," Lily snapped and then immediately regretted it. "Sorry. Look, just tell me where the portal is. I need to know."

"Lily, I cannot," Wizardmon shook his head. "I have no desire to see you put your life on the line just to stop Myotismon. Go anywhere near that portal and you will only find pain and suffering at his hands."

"I can take care of myself," Lily replied.

"Your overconfidence has been your downfall many times, Lily," Wizardmon replied. "Please, just listen to me this once and…"

"I have to do this Wizardmon," Lily replied. "With or without you." And she closed her eyes and tried to focus on something, generating images of mist and wind and other ethereal looking or invisible things. Wizardmon's eyes widened as Lily slowly faded out of his view, turning invisible right before his eyes. It was a trick that she had had little practice at, but she could still do it nevertheless.

"Wait! Lily!" Wizardmon cried, feeling the air of the girl darting past him and up the side-corridor he had come from. He quickly hurried down it, but Lily was fast on her feet and by the time he reached the end he could no longer hear her. He glanced wildly from left to right, but he had no idea where Lily had gone.

"Damn that child's recklessness," he growled to himself. He racked his brain, trying to come up with something, but there was only one thing that he could think of now. He quickly hurried back down the corridor and took to the air, gliding down the corridor with no visible means of support in the direction that Lily's friends had taken. He needed their help… for Lily's sake.

* * *

Lily moved silently through the castle, trying to guess where Myotismon might have hidden the portal door. She had seen most of this castle during her time here, especially the lower levels, but she had no idea where to look. And the disorientating effects of the castle made everything seem completely topsy-turvy.

Eventually though, she found something useful – a lone Bakemon wondering through a nearby corridor with a broom in his hand. As Champion-level Digimon went, Bakemon were pretty useless, and this one was easy prey to the young star. She blindsided him while invisible and kicked him into the wall, grabbing him and holding a fireball in front of his face.

"Alright you," she growled at the terrified ghost Digimon. "You are going to lead me to the portal that Myotismon wants to use to get to the human world or so help me, I will burn your face of right here. Got it?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Bakemon wailed. "Please don't hurt me, my lady. I… I'll take you to the portal."

"Good boy!" Lily smirked, letting him go. "Try to escape and I will hunt you down if I have to. Now, get moving."

* * *

"Just two more levels," Renamon cried from the front of the group. "Don't worry Lily, we'll get Wizardmon back in now time."

There was no response. Sora, who was now the one at the back of the group, looked around and pulled to a halt when she saw the empty corridor behind her. "Guys! Lily's gone!"

"What?" Tai yelled as he skidded to a halt so fast he nearly fell over, and everybody else froze in their tracks as well. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know. I'm sure she was right behind me," Sora cried.

"But she's not now," Yokomon added helpfully.

"Oh, Lily," Renamon growled as she bounded to the back and stared into the corridor. "Please don't have gone and done something stupid again. That's the last thing we need right now."

"She do this often?" asked Anakin.

"More times than we can count," Patamon murmured.

A shadow appeared in the corridor, causing everybody to tense, and Renamon's eyes widened when Wizardmon suddenly rounded the corner. "What the… Wizardmon? You're…?"

"Renamon," Wizardmon nodded as he came to a halt. "It is good to see you, but I'm afraid that you've all walked into a trap. I am not scheduled for execution, and now Lily's gone to try and find the portal by herself."

"What!" cried a large number of the group.

"Oh, Lily! Why?" Renamon pressed a paw over her eyes. "Why must you be so thick sometimes?"

"There is not much time," Wizardmon replied. "We must act now if we're to get to her before Myotismon does. I can show you the way but…"

"No," Renamon shook her head. "Myotismon can't know that you're helping us. Quick – use your magic to show me the way. I'll go and get her. Quickly! You can help this lot to go and free all the prisoners downstairs."

Wizardmon was about to protest, but he knew that Renamon had a valid point, so he simply raised his hand and a small blue orb appeared in his gloved hand, which levitated into the air and shot back the way he had come. "Follow that orb. It will lead you to the portal room."

Renamon bounded down the corridor without another word at incredible speed, dashing after the floating orb on all fours with only one thought on her mind – rescuing Lily.

"Renamon, wait!" Tai cried. "You can't do it by yourself!"

"Tai, she's already gone," Sora turned to him.

"She won't be alone," Taomon narrowed her eyes, shooting forwards and reverting back to her own Rookie form to barrel after her. "Don't wait for me. I'll make sure that they stay alive until you come for back-up."

"Renamon! Wait!" Rika shouted.

"No time!" Renamon called over her shoulder. "Free those prisoners!"

Rika bit her lip, but just shouted. "You just be careful, alright?" But Renamon was already gone, in hot pursuit of her doppelganger, faster than any of the others except perhaps Anakin could hope to keep up with.

"Well, if we're going with this insanity," Wizardmon sighed. "I shall guide you the rest of the way to the prisoners and then to the portal once they are free. Let's go."

* * *

The moment that the Bakemon led Lily into the room, she slammed it in the side of the head and knocked it out completely, causing it to drop to the floor, motionless. She stepped forwards, enthralled at the sight before her. Against the opposite wall was an enormous pair of metal gates that reached practically all the way to the ceiling of the massive room. Lily couldn't believe she had never known this place existed, but now that she was here, she found herself captivated. And to think she could have used this portal as an escape route of her own if she had only known about it.

She quickly shook herself out of her confusion and stepped forwards. "Alright," she murmured to herself. "Now to blow this thing up so Dorkula can't use it for his evil."

"I had a feeling that you'd say that," a deep, menacing voice that made Lily freeze, automatically petrified, said from everywhere. Lily's head swung wildly around to spot Myotismon floating out of the shadows with a cruel smirk on his gaunt face, cloak wrapped around him and surrounded by several bats.

"So, my pet," he said. "It seems that I am able to predict your movements better than you assumed. And it seems your foolhardiness has not ebbed. Coming here alone? I must wonder what was going through your head when you made that decision?"

Lily stood frozen for several seconds, before her anger kicked into overdrive and she conjured another small flame in her hand and prepared to throw it – anything to try and keep this monster at bay. But then a small ball and chain lanced out of nowhere behind her and wrapped around her neck, cutting off her air and yanking her onto her back. It was Phantomon, a fresh scythe gripped in his stubby arms and before Lily could stop him, he had swung his chain around to capture her wrists behind her back and swing her round onto her front, hauling her up onto her knees in the process.

"Disappointing," Myotismon shook his head. "Supremely disappointing, my pet. But then, you always were too rash for your own good. And now, you are in my power once again. Oh, how must you must be kicking yourself in your mind."

"Go to hell," Lily retched, the chain still tight around her neck, bracing herself for what she knew was coming next.

"There's that attitude of yours again," Myotismon chuckled. "I must admit, it will be more… fun… to prune that out of you a second time around. **CRIMSON LIGHTNING!"**

Lily screamed in agony as the red whip-like bloody stream lashed across her back, flaying a long line right between her shoulder-blades. The pain was intense, searing at every nerve, muscle and sinew it made contact with, and she knew that attack wasn't even at full strength. A full power attack could probably rip her in half, but Myotismon always seemed to know exactly how much power to put in to cause the most amount of pain without causing permanent damage.

"Time for your to recognise you master once again," Myotismon laughed, pulling the whip back again and lashing it down again, then again, and then again, until practically the whole lower levels of the castle were filled with Lily's agonised, heart-rending howls.

* * *

It was after about the tenth lash that Renamon pulled to halt beside the door and looked inside, her eyes widening in horror as she saw her partner lying on her front, hands bound and neck chain, and her back a complete mess in several places, and Myotismon was just getting started. She immediately made to bound inside and stop him, but suddenly she was grabbed from behind and hauled back into the corridor by Rika's Renamon, who had just caught up, and pinned against the wall.

"Are you crazy?" Renamon hissed. "You cannot fight against an Ultimate like him with your partner in such a state? He could kill you in an instant."

"Let go of me!" Lily's Renamon growled back, wrenching as another bloodcurdling scream echoed from out of the room. "You expect me to stand back and listen to be partner get tortured into a snivelling wreck?"

"No, but I expect you to have some common sense," Rika's Renamon replied. "Your partner blundered in there without any, so you cannot make the same mistake. We must stall Myotismon until the rest of the group get here to help us."

"We don't have time to come up with a plan," Lily's Renamon snapped.

"Actually, I already have one," the other Renamon smirked, causing the one pinned against the wall to cease her struggles. "Myotismon knows about you, but there's a chance that he might not be expecting two of us."

Lily's Renamon blinked. "So?"

Rika's Renamon chuckled. "So, we use that to our advantage," and to the other Renamon's amazement, she vanished right before her eyes as she raised her perception filter.

"Hey. I didn't even know we could do that," she breathed.

"Well, we can. Now, here's the plan."

* * *

Lily's eyes were beginning to unintentionally leak such was the intensity of the pain. They were screwed tightly shut and her teeth were gritted in a desperate attempt to not scream, yet every time the red hot whip lanced against her back, she couldn't help but yell in pure agony. It felt like Myotismon was practically flying the skin off bones. She didn't even want to know what kind of state her back was in right now, and her arms were little better.

Myotismon lowered his Crimson Lightning to smirk at the pitiful young girl in front of him. "I would be willing to be there is nothing you would like more than for me to kill you right now."

"Wrong," Lily choked. "There's nothing I would like more… than for _me_ to kill _you_ right now."

Myotismon smirked and chuckled darkly. "Well, regardless, your suffering will never come to an end, Lily. As soon as your own little pet comes to find you I will kill her before your very eyes. And once I have finished off those deluded Digi-destined then we'll move on to the bigger things. Your suffering has only just begun, Lily. The rest of your life will be nothing but a living hell from now on."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Renamon growled as she bounded into the room. "Release her right now!"

She charged straight towards Myotismon, who laughed cruelly and lashed his whip out at her. To his mild surprise, she twisted in the air and managed to dodge the strike, coming to land of all fours not far away, fur bristling as she squared up to her much more powerful opponent.

"I will not allow you to lay another hand on Lily ever again," she snarled.

"There is little that you can do to stop me, Rookie," Myotismon sneered. "You could not best me at the Ultimate level. You do not have a hope against me now."

"We shall see," Renamon raised a brow, bounding forwards again. Myotismon conjured a second Crimson Lightning in his other hand and lashed out at her with both of them one after the other. Renamon rolled in the air and just managed to twist between the two, losing several hairs on her tail and flipping to the side… where she promptly disappeared.

"What?" Myotismon blinked, staring at the spot where she had disappeared.

"GAH!" yelled Phantomon as something hammered into him from the side. Myotismon whirled around to see Renamon with her hind paw planted in Phantomon's face, seizing his scythe and swinging it directly at him with a powerful swipe. Phantomon didn't even have time to yell again as he was pulverised by his own weapon and sliced in two pieces, disintegrating on the spot.

"Lily, are you okay?" Renamon asked, kneeling down beside the young girl.

"What… do you think?" Lily gasped.

"Impressive, I must admit," Myotismon raised a brow beneath his mask. "But Phantomon was nothing compared to me in terms of power. Now, it is over for you, fox! **GRISLY WING!"**

As a swarm of bats exuded from the folds of his robes, Renamon scowled and leapt up into the air. **"DIAMOND STORM!"** she countered, throwing a huge flurry of the razor-sharp projectiles down to slice into the bat swarm and slaughter several of them, but the rest of them just kept coming. Renamon backflipped and vanished into the air again…

…and a split second later another Diamond Storm lashed in from the side to slice into more of the bats. Myotismon swiftly raised his cloak to protect himself and swung around to see Renamon standing off to his right and bounding towards him. He summoned a Crimson Lightning and reared back to lash out with it, but Renamon vanished before he could do so…

…and he was suddenly pounded in the back right between his shoulders with a powerful blow. It didn't do much damage to him, but his light build meant that it threw him forwards several paces and fell to one knee. He looked around to see Renamon again, smirking at him.

"How did you get over there so fast?" he growled.

"Trade secret," Renamon chuckled.

Myotismon scowled and lashed out at her again. But she jumped and vanished again…

…moments later she _landed_ on him from above and pounded the side of his face with her foot before spinning away. "Oh, that felt good," she chuckled as she disappeared again…

…and Myotismon felt something seize his cloak from behind and yank backwards. He stumbled, but managed to swing around and pound Renamon in the gut with a hammer blow from his fist. Renamon gasped as she was thrown towards the wall, but she vanished again even as she flew away…

…and Myotismon was promptly blindsided the moment she did, and there she was again, driving her own fist into his gut and then into his face. Myotismon snarled and lashed out another Crimson Lightning, only for her to duck and backflip several times to disappear again. Myotismon swung around, expecting her to somehow be behind him…

…and Renamon slammed into his back again, having come from the exact same direction she had been thrown towards. "ACK!" Myotismon cried as he was tossed forwards again.

"How are you doing that?" he bellowed.

"No comment," Renamon smirked, fading away once more, and reappearing moments later near the wall and turning around to immediately lift her tail into the air and wave her hindquarters at him in a clear derogatory gesture. Myotismon seethed and immediately powered up his Crimson Lightning attacks, getting angrier and angrier by the second.

* * *

"Here it is. This is the place where all the prisoners are held," Wizardmon said as he led the group out into a tall, dark and dank corridor lined with various cages. Some of them were jam-packed with various dejected looking smaller Digimon. Others appeared to be holding larger, more powerful looking ones that had been beaten into submission or where restrained in some fashion.

Anakin felt his jaw tightening. This was a hideous reminder of everything that had been wrong with his childhood. He had been unfortunate enough to see the conditions that slaves of the Hutts often had to live in and this was just as bad, if not even worse. The eyes of the Digimon that looked out at them were haunted and filled with fear, as if they had been completely drained of every last shred of hope within them.

"This is horrible," TK murmured, as Sora kneeled down to cover his eyes.

"Well, it may be horrible," Tai said with conviction. "But we're going to get all these guys out of here right now!"

"That Myotismon is just as much of a monster as any Sith Lord," Anakin's hand tightened around his lightsaber. "You're telling me that Lily had to endure conditions like this?"

"Anakin," Rika glanced up at him. "Are you alright? You're not supposed to be getting angry, are you? You're a Jedi."

Anakin gritted his teeth and did his best to suppress the near-overwhelming surge of anger he felt inside him, but it was damn difficult to do and his lightsaber flashed into life in his hand. "You're right," Anakin nodded, feeling the presence of the others entering his mind to help soothe his troubled mind. "Come on, let's free these guys."

"Not so fast," two voices said from the corridor, and a pair of small figures emerged from the shadows to fill the corridors, blocking their way.

"Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon," noted Wizardmon. "Having a pleasant day, you two?"

"We've been instructed by Lord Myotismon to make sure that any Digi-destined that come down here are eliminated immediately," Pumpkinmon stated. "And these guys look like Digi-destined to me."

"That's right," Gotsumon nodded. "So prepare to be eliminated, kids."

Anakin and Tai both stepped forwards but Wizardmon raised a hand slightly and said, "Oh, come now, you two. I know that that is not your nature. You aren't killers, either one of you. I don't even know why you chose to enter Myotismon's service in the first place, but I know that your hearts really aren't into his orders. These children are not your enemies. They are enemies of Myotismon, not Digimon who just want to have fun."

"Really?" Pumpkinmon blinked. "So, you guys won't attack us?"

"Er…" Tai murmured. "Only if you don't attack us either."

"Phew," Gotsumon chuckled. "And here I thought that you guys would batter us in on sight."

"Mind if we free the prisoners now?" Wizardmon asked.

"Knock yourselves out," Pumpkinmon grinned. "In fact, we'll give you a hand. Come on."

"Wow, that was easy," Sora blinked.

"Did you have to jinx it?" Rika asked a moment later, because suddenly a large shape appeared out of the shadows at the other end of the corridor – huge and squid-like with massive clawed tentacles – Gesomon. And he, unlike Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon was not going to be so easy to talk to.

"**CORAL CRUSHER!"** he yelled, lashing out with several of his enormous tentacles.

The Digimon before him all quickly responded with an outburst of attacks, knowing full well that Gesomon was planning on taking them all out as his tentacles swarmed down the corridor en masse. Yokomon sprang off the floor and burst into light with a cry of:-

"**YOKOMON DIGIVOLVE TO… BIYOMON!"**

"**SPIRAL TWISTER!"** she added moments later, unleashing a helical attack of greenish flames that surged towards the oncoming tentacles.

"**BOOM BUBBLE!"** Patamon swelled like a balloon and hurled a large sphere and concussive air.

"**MAGICAL GAME!"** Wizardmon added, releasing a large burst of blue energy from the end of his staff.

"**ROCK FIST!"** Gotsumon threw in, hurling a large barrage of small rocks from the middle of his forehead.

"**TRICK OR TREAT!"** Pumpkinmon finished, summoning a large pumpkin from nowhere and hurling it forwards.

The four attack crashed into the tentacles and knocked several of them aside, but one of the main ones still lashed onwards, prompting Anakin to leap forwards to intercept it, lashing out with the Force to knock it aside and then slashing through it with his lightsaber. Gesomon howled, but before he could even retract the tentacle, Anakin was amongst the other ones, hacking through another as he dived past it and rolled across the floor, springing into a rebound off a wall and twisting to double-slash through two more and spin around to stab into the clawed hand of another as it swiped at him.

"Whoa! I wish I could do that!" Tai stared with wide eyes.

"Quite standing and watching and help us free the prisoners!" Rika yelled.

"Oh. Right," Tai nodded, as he and the Digimon quickly got to work. Gotsumon provided him, Rika and Sora with rocks so they could start trying to smash the locks off the cage doors while he began to do the same thing with his head. Wizardmon blasted a couple of locks open with quick shots from his staff, while Pumpkinmon actually pulled the axe from out of the top of his own head and set to work with that too.

And all the while, Anakin was holding his own against the squid-like Gesomon. He halted the advance of another tentacle with the Force and slashed through it and backflipped over another as it aimed for his legs. His eyes narrowed as Gesomon brought down both of his largest, albeit injured, tentacles down towards him and he immediately threw his hand up and outwards, calling on the Force to throw the tentacles out wide and pin them all to the outside walls. Gesomon balked and tried to shift his tentacles, but Anakin flexed his fingers and they stayed put.

"No, you don't he shook his head."

Biyomon quickly noticed the opening and said, "Sora! I'm going in!"

"Ok!" Sora nodded. "Just be careful!"

"Aren't I always?" the bird smiled as she soared over Anakin's head and between the pinned tentacles, bursting into life against as she did so.

"**BIYOMON DIGIVOLVE TO… BIRDRAMON!"**

Gesomon hissed at the bright light show but that promptly became the least of his worries as the huge fire-bird soared out of the light and raked her talons across his rubbery front. Gesomon squealed and tried to pull backwards, but Anakin still had a hold of his tentacles, allowing Birdramon to perform several swift and brutal lacerations with her feet before she pulled backwards and spread her wings as wide as the corridor would allow.

"**METEOR WING!"** she called, and rained several large fireballs down which instantly peppered Gesomon and caused him to squeal and finally wrench free of Anakin's grasp to flail wildly around. But before he could grab Birdramon, the other Champion had swept forwards to ram him in the front again and fill his gaping jaws with flames, knocking him straight onto his back.

"Anakin, we need some help here!" Rika called over to him as she tried to bash the lock of another cage. Anakin blinked and then remembered what was going on. Quickly suppressing the urge to continue battling against the squid, he immediately turned around and dashed across one wall, severing lock after lock with swift strokes of his outstretched blade. The doors swung open of their own accord and the assorted Digimon within looked out nervously, the more adventurous of them gently stepping outwards to look around them.

Gesomon lashed at the bird with one of his few remaining tentacles, which Birdramon promptly seized in her beak and tore right off. As Gesomon howled, Birdramon pressed down on him with her talons and then called, **"PHOENIX RISING!"** surging her wings and shooting straight upwards as a huge plume of fire and smoke suddenly gushed out of her tail and straight downwards, enveloping Gesomon in a fiery inferno. With a final squeal, Gesomon vanished into particles and Birdramon landed on the ground, triumphant.

"I've been waiting for an opportunity to use that attack," she remarked.

"Good work, Birdramon," grinned Sora, as Anakin darted into a cell next to her to slash through the chains pinning what appeared to be a young Persiamon to the wall.

"We must now hurry to the throne room," Wizardmon stated. "No doubt Lily and the Renamons will need some help against Myotismon."

"Yeah, we're on our way," nodded Tai. "But how do we communicate with the others with your Renamon gone?" he turned to Rika.

"Not a problem," Rika smirked. "As it happens, _I _have access to the telepathic link as well."

She placed her finger to the side of her head and closed her eyes, though this was more for effect than anything else as she didn't really need to do this to communicate. _Alright guys,_ she thought. _I think we're done stalling. It's time to finish up our various battles and get to that portal._

* * *

_Got it,_ Gargomon replied as pounded Tuskmon full in the nose and knocked him backwards. "Alright guys! They've successfully freed the prisoners, but Lily's gone off and done something stupid, so we need to finish up here and fast!"

Snimon was smashed back into the wall with a Force-push from Ahsoka, one blade missing and the other promptly shorn off as he slashed down at her leaping form. He hissed again and Ahsoka plunged her blade into his abdomen, but Snimon was evidently more resilient than that and he knocked her aside with the flat remains of one of his sickles.

"Got it," she nodded. "Care to do the honours?"

"With pleasure," Gargomon nodded, springing into the air.

"Digi-modify!" Henry shouted, slashing a blue card through his D-Arc. "Matrix digivolution activate!"

"**GARGOMON DIGIVOLVE TO… RAPIDMON!"**

"Wow," said Mimi, as she beheld the cyborg bunny Digimon that rose out of the light. "So you can go to the Ultimate level too?"

"Yes," nodded Henry. "It took us a while to figure out how to do it though."

"Those cards of yours are fascinating," Izzy murmured. "You mind if I take a look at them?"

"Another time perhaps," Henry chuckled.

Rapidmon moved with blinding speed. Tuskmon and Snimon had no idea what hit either of them, and with a pair of blurred kicks, they had both been smacked into one another and fell in a pile nearby. Rapidmon promptly zipped up next to them and threw out his arms, preparing and launching a Tri Bream down at the unfortunate Champions and obliterating both of them on the spot.

He then turned around to where the other three Champions were still duking it out with Mammothmon. The Ultimate Digimon let off a massive trumpet and suddenly tossed his huge head, knocking all three Champions to the ground in front of him with bats from his tusks and trunk alike.

"**FREEZING BREATH!"** he cried, raising the trunk and exuding a huge blast of frigid air out of the tip, which washed over the three Champions and immediately began to form heavy ice shards which pinned them to the ground and began to creep up their bodies, threatening to encase them completely. But Mammothmon was interrupted as Rapidmon slammed a Rapid Fire right into the side of his head to knock him off balance again.

"Come on, you lot!" Rapidmon cried. "I know that you can take this guy. He's half blind and has next to no brain. You're strong enough to take him."

Kabuterimon growled, wrenching his arms out of the ice which had tried to pin them down. "He's right! Izzy, I think it's time we showed him that horns trump tusks any day."

"Agreed!" Izzy cried, the crest under his shirt suddenly glowing a deep purple. "You can do it, Kabuterimon!"

Ahsoka's eyes widened in astonishment as Kabuterimon wrenched the rest of himself free of the ice and exploded into light with a loud roar of triumph:-

"**KABUTERIMON DIGIVOLVE TO…"**

The Digimon that emerged was enormous, an insect that defied all the laws of physics with his huge, bulky, red shell, complete with jewel on the wing cases, heavily armoured limbs and enormous six pronged horn on the end of his nose.

"**MEGAKABUTERIMON!"**

Mammothmon shrank back from the light, and MegaKabuterimon immediately took advantage of that. The battle was over almost before it began as the enormous insect charged forwards and grabbed Mammothmon around the head and front legs with four massive arms, hoisting the squealing pachyderm into the air and tossing him across the room to slam painfully into the opposite wall. As Mammothmon fell to the ground, MegaKabuterimon threw himself forwards with a thunder, his horn crackling with electrical power.

"**HORN BUSTER!"**

The big, red bug ploughed into Mammothmon with so much force the enemy Digimon was slammed straight through the wall and three walls immediately after it, all the while with electricity sparking over his body before he slammed down with the force of several bulldozers to crash into another wall, dent it and then burst into data.

"Whoa," Ahsoka blinked. "Remind me not to piss you guys off."

"That's right," MegaKabuterimon chuckled as he turned around. "Or I'll squash you like…"

"…a bug?" Ahsoka guessed with a smirk.

"What? No, I was going to say a muffin. Why would I say bug?"

"I dunno," Ahsoka shrugged, as the enormous beetle de-digivolved down into a small pink blob-like creature. "Come on. We should go. Rapidmon, you lead the way."

Rapidmon degenerated into Terriermon and said, "Got it. Come on."

* * *

Aayla ducked under another slash from Gatomon's claws and threw a faux slash of her own that narrowly missed cleaving Gatomon's ear. Gatomon twisted about, avoiding another slash that passed beneath her tail and was about to land on her feet when Aayla pushed out her hand and slammed Gatomon into a nearby wall with the Force. Gatomon hissed and pushed herself away to throw herself at Aayla again, but Aayla just flung her back with another wave of telekinetic power and pinned her there.

"Listen, Gatomon," she said, kneeling down in front of her. "I do not wish to fight against someone with no evil in their hearts, even if they do serve under an evil tyrant like Myotismon."

"Don't talk rubbish," Gatomon growled. "I am committed to my master for life. I do whatever he wills me to do."

"But is that who you really are, Gatomon?" Aayla asked. "Is that who you choose to be, or is that just all you know?"

"What?" Gatomon frowned. "I…"

She jumped as another image of a lonely wandering Salamon jumped into her head and she squirmed harder, unable to break free of Aayla's hold. "No. I… I… I don't… Shut up!"

Aayla looked down at her sadly. "I think that there is more to you than this, Gatomon. You've just forgotten who you really are." She then reached down and neatly plucked one of Gatomon's gloves off, examining the X shaped scar on the back of her paw. "Is this the kind of thing that a master worthy of your support would do?"

Gatomon was startled. How had she known about that scar? (In reality, Aayla had just been told about it by Suzie in her head). More images of a beaten and defiant Salamon in the dark corridors of this very castle flashed back into her head and she blustered for several seconds. Confused and afraid, she panicked and flashed a Cat's Eye Hypnotism at Aayla. Aayla had been prepared for this, drawing on the knowledge the others had of Gatomon's abilities from their heads, and pretended to fall backwards, dropping Gatomon's glove.

Freed, Gatomon darted over to retrieve it and pull it back on and lifted her claws to strike at Aayla again. But Aayla looked up and fixed her brown eyes with Gatomon's blue ones questioningly and the cat hesitated. That hesitation turned to complete confusion and she grasped her head and fled, dashing into a dark corridor and away.

Aayla sighed, hoping that her words had penetrated through to Gatomon enough to make her remember sooner than she would have done ordinarily, and then turned to face the rest of the room. Turuiemon was just finishing off the last of the Gizamon with a quick gauntlet claw, but Greymon and Garurumon were still locked in combat with SkullMeramon.

"Our attacks won't work on him!" Greymon cried as he charged forwards to try and ram SkullMeramon again, only to be brought down by a hefty punch to the side of the head and a kick to the gut that sent him crashing backwards. Garurumon bounded forwards and pounced on the Ultimate, trying to grab him by the neck in his jaws, but SkullMeramon lashed out with a chain and forced Garurumon to bite into that instead and then punched him in the chest that sent him ploughing backwards to knock the recovering Greymon over again.

"**METAL FIREBALL!"** he yelled again, spewing more powerful flames directly at the floored Champions. Both of them quickly looked up and threw their own signature moves at the attack to cancel it out, but they still had to throw themselves backwards to avoid the splatter of the molten flames.

SkullMeramon lifted up his chains and launched them forwards, but then both Aayla and Turuiemon bounded right over Greymon and Garurumon and set to work. SkullMeramon was shocked as the Champion and the Twi'lek swung into his chains head on and became a pair of windmills of death. Aayla span around and slashed through two of them and slashed around and over her own head to take out another and arc out her blade wide to scythe through two more. Turuiemon slashed out to either side of her body to take out another pair and then _kicked_ another aimed for her gut to knock it away and span in a smooth circle to slash through another.

Both landed on their feet smoothly and Aayla said, "I reckon it's time we took things to the next level."

"Got it," nodded Turuiemon. "Suzie?"

"Matt?" Gaurumon added.

Matt raised his Digivice and his crest erupted with blue light while Suzie swept a blue card through the slot of her own. The two other Champions bounded forwards and showered the room with more light as they alternatively grew or shrank into their new forms.

"**GARURUMON DIGIVOLVE TO… WEREGARURUMON!"**

"**TURUIEMON DIGIVOLVE TO… ANTYLAMON!"**

Antylamon was so tall that she almost grazed the ceiling but she and her fellow Ultimate both shot forwards to attack the attacker. SkullMeramon immediately threw out another Metal Fireball in a wild attempt to stop them, but Antylamon morphed her hands into axes and swept it aside with ease.

"Shall we double-team him?" the huge bunny asked.

"No complaints here," WereGarurumon agreed. **"WOLF CLAW!"** he bellowed, slashing his red claws through the air to generate a bright energy slash in the air which lashed out towards SkullMeramon.

"**BUNNY BLADES!"** Antylamon agreed, swinging one of her own axes to generate a similar, albeit pink, energy blade which crashed with WereGarurumon's attack and almost seemed to meld with it to form an X which sliced right into SkullMeramon's chest to part his upper torso from his legs, both bits vanishing into data immediately as they sailed apart.

"Hey, that was pretty cool," Greymon chuckled.

"Come on," Aayla waved the others over. "We don't have time to dither."

* * *

Things had taken a turn for the worse for both of the Renamons, though they were still maintaining the illusion that there was only one of them quite successfully. Approximately a minute ago, reinforcements had arrived for Myotismon. _Lots _of reinforcements. DemiDevimon had flapped his way into the room, and behind him came a powerful DarkTyrannomon, and angry Dokugumon and a huge MegaSeadramon who wound his way through the door. And on top of that, Myotismon had raised his hands and several of the Devidramon statues on the walls had suddenly morphed into the real thing and flung themselves into the air.

Rika's Renamon bounded over the top of a Lightning Javelin from MegaSeadramon which fractured the floor beneath her and sprang aside to avoid a Fire Blast from DarkTyrannomon, singing the tip of her tail and only saved by her blinding reactions. She threw up her perception filter, and Lily's Renamon immediately lowered hers as she punched one of the Devidramon in the side of the head to send him crashing to the floor. MegaSeadramon whirled around and lashed down at her with his tail, but Renamon dashed away and narrowly avoided being squashed, only to run straight into Dokugumon who spewed Poison Threads right at her.

Only being ploughed into by the invisible Renamon saved Lily's partner from becoming entangled. "Thanks," she murmured as she flipped back onto her feet.

"No problem," Rika's Renamon replied. "But things are getting too wild here. I'll try and draw their attention. You get Lily to safety."

"Gotcha," nodded the other Renamon, raising her perception filter. Rika's Renamon bounded invisibly forwards and pounced on top of Dokugumon's back slashing into the duplicate of the old enemy who had almost killed her so long ago with her claws and feeling good about it. Two of the Devidramon swept forwards to attack her, but she sprang away, causing them to plough into the Dokugumon instead. Renamon landed smoothly and turned to see DarkTyrannomon bearing down on her, and beyond him, Myotismon standing by the pedestal in front of the gates and setting the cards into their appropriate slots without touching them.

Lily herself had managed to haul herself to a nearby wall, but she was still in incredible intense pain. She felt something invisible touch her arm and despite the pain she lashed out and smacked into something which went, "Ow! Lily, it's me."

"Renamon? But… what…?" Lily blinked, staring across at the Renamon which had just booted DarkTyrannomon in the nose. "Wait… oh… that's clever… ungh!"

"Hold on, Lily. We need to move. Now."

"No! I've gotta…"

"Get some sense, and no when it's too dangerous. You're in no condition to fight. Now, let's go." Lily allowed Renamon to help her to her feet and hobbled slowly towards the door, unnoticed by the combatants in the room as the other Renamon only just managed to dodge the flailing tail of the MegaSeadramon.

But, as soon as they arrived by the door, Gatomon appeared, dashing down the corridor towards them. She froze when she spotted the injured Lily, who glared at her, but the cat immediately barrelled forwards and slammed into the injured star, knocking her backwards with a shriek of pain and simultaneously throwing Renamon to the floor, causing her to lose her grip on the perception filter and lower it.

Gatomon blinked, and then looked up to see the other Renamon, dodging a couple of slashes from a Devidramon and cried, "Lord Myotismon! There are two Renamon!"

Myotismon whirled around, and the Rika's Renamon froze in surprise, her split second hesitation allowing the Devidramon to cleave her side and send her flying into the wall with a shriek. Lily's Renamon tried to get up, but both she and Lily were immediately snared by Dokugumon and held down in her silky threads.

The pedestal throbbed and the huge gate began to slowly grind open behind them, indicating Myotismon had finished setting the cards. Myotismon looked from one wounded Renamon to the other and chuckled lowly. "An interesting development," he admitted. "And a clever ploy. But it seems your little trick has run its course. And now I have two Renamon to kill right before your eyes, by little pet. That only makes things all the more amusing."

"Leave them alone!" Lily growled. "Leave them both alone."

Rika's Renamon pushed herself to her feet, but she was quickly grabbed in the claws of one of the Devidramon and held firmly. Myotismon turned towards Gatomon and said, "I knew I could rely on you, Gatomon. Now, kill that Renamon of hers. Stab her with your claws while she lies helpless and watches."

Gatomon immediately raised her claws, but as she prepared to slash down, the words of Aayla flashed back into her head. Was this her destiny? Was this really who she was – a cold blooded murderer who always carried out the orders of a bloodthirsty vampire? She'd always just gone with it before thoughtlessly, but now… now she just… wasn't sure.

Who was she? Who was she really?

Her hesitation proved to be Renamon's life-saver, for at the other end of the corridor behind them, the rest of the group had now converged, led from their various locations by Wizardmon and those with mind-links respectively. Wizardmon took in the situation at a glance, seeing his long-time friend with her claws raised over his other long-time friends and he came to a snap decision.

"Quick, we must act!" he said. "I shall pretend that I am still on Myotismon's side just in case something goes wrong. Now, someone throw me down that corridor!"

Anakin caught on immediately and said, "I'll do it." And he lashed out with the Force to hurl Wizardmon backwards down the staircase. The Champion Digimon ploughed into the back of the cat with a grunt and both of them went sailing straight over Lily and Renamon to land amongst Dokugumon's threads, breaking several of them in the process.

"Gatomon!" Wizardmon grunted. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Gatomon nodded as they struggled to their feet.

"Greymon!" Tai shouted. "Get down there and save Lily, quick!"

"I'm all over it, Tai!" Greymon thundered past the humans and barrelled down the stairs, Tai's Crest of Courage activating and showering everything with orange light, which was practically drowned out when Greymon also exploded with light.

"**GREYMON DIGIVOLVE TO…"**

The result was a much large dinosaur with a metallic face-guard, huge metal left arm, chest-plate and with six purple wings jutting out his back exploding through the door and swooping over the top of Lily and Renamon as they pushed themselves upwards.

"**METALGREYMON!"**

Wizardmon and Gatomon leapt aside, but Dokugumon never knew what hit it. MetalGreymon landed on top of her and slammed her into the ground under his enormous frame, flattening her into data instantaneously.

"**MEGA CLAW!"** MetalGreymon roared, swiftly pointing his arm at the Devidramon with a grip on the other Renamon and letting fly, the hand shooting outwards on a long metal pole so the three claws on the tip punctured the Devidramon's chest and destroyed him immediately, Renamon dropping to the ground in the process.

MegaSeadramon immediately surged towards him, but MetalGreymon leapt upwards and slammed him in the side of the head with his retracting claw to knock him away, and then focused down on Myotismon, his chest plate opening up to reveal two missile ports. **"GIGA BLASTER!"** he tried, a pair of fish-shaped missiles bursting right out from within and streaming down towards Myotismon.

"**CRIMSON LIGHTNING!"** Myotismon responded, lashing out with the bloody looking whip to slam the missiles aside, detonating one and sending the other spiralling downwards to blow up another Devidramon. MetalGreymon growled in annoyance and stepped back turning himself into a living wall that protected Lily and Renamon from all and sundry, as well as the rest of the group as they ran down the stairs to join the throng.

"Lily!" Tai cried, grabbing the young star in a vicious hug.

Lily screamed as he pressed on her horribly disfigured back and punched him in the gut, causing him to let go and reel backwards and let go. "Sorry," Lily gasped. "But that really hurt."

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't think," Tai blustered, massaging his stomach. "It's so good to see you though. You idiot."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Lily winced.

"Here, let me help," Aayla murmured, bending down to place a hand over Lily's wounds and use the force to slowly heal them. "My healing skills are not as good as they could be but hopefully they should be enough."

"T… thank you…" Lily winced as her back was healed over slowly.

"Renamon!" Rika called as her partner bounded over. "Are you alright?"

"More or less," Renamon responded with a wince, looking down at the gash the Devidramon had given her.

Myotismon snorted. "So, you have a few new friends then, my pet. No matter, they shall be dealt with eventually, but I am afraid we have more important matters to attend to. DemiDevimon, Gatomon, and all the rest of you but the Devidramon, get through the portal. We shall deal with the Digi-destined another day.

MegaSeadramon growled, but followed orders, as the rest of them wheeled their way towards the portal, as well as a large army of Bakemon that raised themselves out of the floor to follow them others.

"Oh, no you don't!" MetalGreymon cried, charging forwards, but he was suddenly swarmed by large bats which surrounded his head and obscured his vision, and then lashed across the side by a powerful Crimson Lightning, allowing the other Digimon to escape through the portal. Wizardmon took one last look back at Lily before he sighed and followed Gatomon into the light beyond.

"Do not think that your successes today mean anything, Digi-destined," Myotismon smirked as his army vanished behind him. "I am still several steps ahead of you. And once I find the Eighth Child, then both this world and your own will be powerless against me."

"Oh really?" Rika raised an eyebrow, turning to face Renamon. They both knew that they had to allow Myotismon to get away, because without his attempts at intervention, Gatomon and Kari might never become partners, Angewomon would never be born and without Angewomon, there was a possibility that WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon would never be born, and who knew what would become of the Digi-destined when it came to face the Dark Masters or Diaboromon without them.

But still, that didn't mean they couldn't bring the pain a little bit.

"I've heard just about enough from this guy, haven't you?" Rika asked.

"Indeed, I have," Renamon nodded. "I think it's about time to show him that the Ultimate level can only get you so far against certain opponents."

"Who exactly are you then?" Myotismon sneered at the two of them.

Rika didn't answer him. Instead, she pressed her D-Arc to her chest and cried, "Biomerge activate!"

The Digi-destined and Myotismon watched in astonishment as the new digivolution began, Lily and Renamon watching with wide eyes as Rika and the other Renamon both burst into light and fused together with a cry of:-

"**RENAMON BIOMERGE TO… SAKUYAMON!"**

Myotismon almost gaped at the sight of the shaman Digimon that had appeared in front of him, long grey hair waving in a non-existent wind as she looked up, eyes hidden on her fox-mask and staff twirling almost leisurely in one hand.

"You are an agent of darkness, Myotismon," Sakuyamon stated. "And no matter what you might delude yourself into thinking, darkness with all fall to the light. **AMETHYST WIND!"**

She flung a huge barrage of purple shards right towards the vampire Digimon, who threw himself into the air to avoid them, lifting his cloak in an attempt to shield himself from the rest, which punched straight through said cloak and hit him anyway, eliciting howls of pain from his throat. He tumbled backwards several times as Sakuyamon floated slowly towards him, gripping his side in one hand and baring his fangs in anger.

"**CRIMSON LIGHTNING!"** he tried, lashing outwards again, but Sakuyamon merely raised her staff to catch the attack around the ring at the tip, yanking Myotismon forwards with it and then smacking him in the face with the staff before he could stop. She then threw him backwards and raised a Talisman Sphere, only to throw it at him and send him ploughing straight into the ground below them.

"See what I mean?" she asked down at him as he scrambled to his feet.

"I shall not lose to you," Myotismon stated with a growl. "I shall not lose to any Digimon. Especially one who has lowered herself to merging with a pitiful human. **GRISLY WING!"**

Sakuyamon smirked as the bats surged towards her and reached down to her belt. **"SPIRIT STRIKE!"** she countered, unleashing her four fox spirits which tore into the bats like a whirlwind, an inferno, a flood and a lightning bolt all at the same time, completely obliterating them on the spot. The spirits continued downwards and circled Myotismon lazily. The vampire tried to lash them away with more Crimson Lightning, but his attack just went straight through them as if they weren't there.

Myotismon looked up and balked as he saw a Twin Blades of Beauty and Truth slashing down towards him. He jumped backwards instinctively and made the mistake of passing straight through the fire fox spirit. It felt like he had been presented with a crucifix and he collapsed to the floor, roaring as fiery pain soared throughout his whole body. And then the Twin Blades crashed into the floor in front of him and sent him tumbling forwards to come to a stop beside the gate.

"_Now_ do you get the picture?" Sakuyamon asked as she lowered herself towards the ground.

"This is not over!" Myotismon declared. "Devidramon! Kill her!" And then he surged backwards and towards the gate. Sakuyamon made to pursue him, but she abruptly had to raise a shield to block the attacks of the three remaining Devidramon, who all fell on top of her and tried to claw their way through the shield. Myotismon slipped through the gate behind them, and the huge metal structure automatically began to close.

"**GIGA BLASTER!"** roared MetalGreymon, and another pair of missiles streaked from his chest to cannon into two of the Devidramon and obliterate them on the spot while the third was flung into the air. MetalGreymon promptly charged forwards to slash through him with his heavy left arm and finish him off too. Then, he glowed and shrank back down into the small pink blob that was Koromon.

As Sakuyamon landed on the ground and split back into Rika and Renamon, the Digi-destined all stared at them with wide eyes.

"Who… who are you guys?" TK asked.

"That was astounding," Izzy gushed.

"Why can't _I_ do that?" Lily's Renamon whined.

"Look, there's no time for you to ask questions – the gate is closing," Aayla pointed towards the huge metal doors which were already halfway shut.

"Right," Tai snapped out of it. "Come on everybody! After that guy!"

"Let us give you a hand," Ahsoka grinned, and the three Jedi all called on the Force together, lifting all seven Digi-destined, all their partners and Lily and her Renamon, into the air before they knew what was happening, and then hurling them forwards. Yelling and screaming all of them soared across the room towards the doors under the telekinetic power of the others.

"Wait! Why aren't you coming?" Matt shouted as they flew.

"This is your fight, not ours!" Henry yelled. "But we have faith that you can do it! We believe in you all!"

"Bye!" Suzie called, waving after them.

The kids and their partners sailed through the small gap in the doors and the Jedi lowered their hands as they watched it grind shut completely.

There was a couple of moments of silence, and then Rika murmured. "Well, I can safely say this has been quite a weird day."

"You're telling me," Anakin mumbled. He turned to Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon, who had notably not followed Myotismon's orders to go through the portal with the rest of the group. "Do you reckon that you two can go back and make sure that the rest of the prisoners get out of here safely? We've got something we need to test out here."

"Yes, sir!" they both grinned and then hurried away.

"Do you reckon they'll be alright?" Henry asked. "They didn't get through the gate on the first attempt in the anime."

"Yeah, but the Digital World runs much faster than the Human World anyway," shrugged Terriermon. "They could have stayed here for another year and all that Myotismon would have have time to do would be to rub his wound a little bit."

"Yes, but we destroyed so many of his minions today," Henry worried. "The continuity has been all shot to hell. What if one of the other Ultimates destroys MegaSeadramon or DarkTyrannomon early on, so Lillymon and Zudomon might not get the chance to appear? What if Myotismon realises that Wizardmon is a traitor earlier in advance, as well as Gatomon? And without Gizamon, Tuskmon and Snimon, will VenomMyotismon still rise and force the Digi-destined to begin the prophecy to awaken WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon?"

"I'm sure that they'll be fine," Renamon smiled reassuringly. "They are the Digi-destined. And with that Lily with them they have an extra boost. Even if she can be occasionally overly reckless."

"Yeah, she sure was a hothead, wasn't she?" Lopmon chuckled.

"We never did really learn exactly what she was, did we?" Ahsoka frowned.

"No, but everyone was calling her a star," Aayla agreed. "So unless that is some kind of obscure nickname… well, you get my drift."

"Regardless, it's not our problem anymore," Anakin said. "Now we need to try and figure out a way of using this portal to get back to our universe."

The Tamers glanced at each other, all simultaneously wondering the same thing – could it take them home to _their_ own universe as well.

"Maybe we should go and find Gennai," Henry suggested. "He might be able to tell us if…"

Suddenly they all froze as the gate slowly began to slide open again completely of its own accord. They stared at it in astonishment, wondering if somehow something had gone wrong and the portal was about to disgorge the Digi-destined back into this world or something.

Ahsoka blinked as she saw a faint glow out of the corner of her eye and her head flicked to the side. She blinked, as she saw an ethereal, glowing man with a brown beard and long brown hair and robes that definitely looked like they belonged on a Jedi. Her eyes widened, as the man smiled at her and gestured towards the portal, before he faded from sight. Ahsoka stared in shock.

That man? He had looked like…

Had that been Obi-Wan Kenobi's old master? She'd only seen him in pictures, but… it looked like him.

Whatever the case she shook herself, as if the Force was telling her what to do.

"Come on!" she cried. "This is our way back! I know it!" And she charged the portal without another thought.

"Ahsoka! Wait!" Anakin cried, setting off in pursuit, and before the others knew what they were doing all nine of them were dashing straight towards the portal. Ahsoka dived through into the whiteness and the other all followed one by one, feeling the jerk and the pull and the tumbling that indicated that they were once again crossing a universal barrier.

* * *

One wild ride later…

And they all landed with a less than dignified thud in a forest. They looked up bewildered, to find themselves in the same spot where they had fought Parallelmon before. The wrecked house and various appliances that he had thrown at them was enough to tell them that. Lopmon could even see the fridge she had thrown at him.

"What the heck happened there?" Anakin blinked.

"I don't know," Aayla said as she got to her feet and helped Rika to hers. "But if I were to guess, I would say that the Force called us back for some reason."

"Heh. Maybe it couldn't stand to see this world without it's Chosen One," suggested Terriermon.

"Oh, shut up," Anakin snorted. "Whatever the case, I reckon you could call it a miracle. Now we should get back. People are probably going to be worried about us."

"Not if time in the Digital World was faster than time in _this_ universe as well," Henry laughed.

"Here's hoping," Anakin nodded, as he put his arms around Aayla and Renamon's shoulders and the whole group walked off together back in the direction of Otoh Gunga.

* * *

Could… not… stop… writing.

There was just so much to do in this oneshot, and I still wish that I could have given the Ultimates longer action sequences than they did, but it had already gone well over the usual length of a oneshot by the time MegaKabuterimon appeared. But here it is, **WhiteWolfPrincess95. **Your oneshot finally brought to life. I hope that I did your character justice, and I hope that you liked the action sequences involved. It's a shame I couldn't fit Lillymon and Zudomon in somewhere, but… well, you can't have everything I suppose.

If anybody would like to pop over the profile of Lily's creator and have a look at her stories then by all means go ahead. I'm sure she'd be thrilled to have more readers if you don't read them already.

* * *

Fergus Flamacron, signing off.


	12. Mirror Mania

Hello everybody. I am ssoooo very late with this oneshot for **xXVen-nificentXx **but real life got in the way quite a lot and this ended up a lot longer and with quite a different plot than I was original intending. Nevertheless the oneshot you've been waiting for for months is finally here, so I hope that you enjoy reading it. Hehe. I hope EVERYONE enjoys reading it but the requester especially.

* * *

**Reviewer Requests**

**Oneshot 10:- Mirror Mania**

**Rating:- T**

**Worlds:- Digimon Tamers, Kung Fu Panda**

* * *

Deep in the archives of the Jade Palace, at the top of the mountain at the tip of the Valley of Peace, the mighty Dragon Warrior, hero of China and the being who defeated the seemingly invincible Tai Lung and prevented the rise of the wily Lord Shen, sneezed.

"Aww come on," he muttered to himself as he wiped his nose with the back of his black, furry paw. "I can't believe Master Shifu's making us do this. I mean it was only a little accident on the job. No biggie and yet he completely flipped out."

"'Flipped out' is not the phrase I would use, Po," stated a female voice behind him, followed by a heavy thunk as the being it came from deposited a wooden box on the floor and kicked up another swirling vortex of dust in the process. "But this punishment does serve its purpose. Perhaps next time we have a group of bandits to take care of we could actually deal with them instead of standing around for five minutes while they robbed the place blind."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, Tigress, I get it," the Dragon Warrior, known to most as Po, turned to face his fellow Kung-Fu master. "I said I was sorry about thirty times already, didn't I? I mean, come on. I got carried away, that's all."

Master Tigress shook her head, her orange and black-striped fur rippling in the dim light as her huge front paws dusted off her silken red robes. She still sometimes, in fact often, struggled to believe that the being in front of her had managed to do what she and the rest of her team – the Furious Five – had been incapable of doing. For the Dragon Warrior hardly looked or sounded the part of the role that he filled.

For one thing he was quite fat, with a belly that wobbled practically every time he took a step like a puddle that someone had just thrown a stone into. His arms were thick, though not with muscle, and his face looked like it couldn't hold an angry expression if his life depended on it. Not that it couldn't – Tigress had seen Po angry a number of times and he could look very serious when he wanted to, but those times were few and far between.

Oh yes, and he was a Giant Panda. Not exactly the first animal you would think of as candidate for a Kung-fu warrior.

But the key to his success was not that everybody underestimated him – he was generally an amazing Kung-fu master, and to think he had come from such humble beginnings as the adopted son of a goose who ran a noodle restaurant in the valley below. Po had idolised Kung-fu Masters like the Furious Five for so long, and no he could hang around and fight alongside them on a daily basis.

But today was not a day for fighting, for after the screw-up of their last mission their teacher, Master Shifu, had felt the need to discipline them while he himself set out to deal with the bandits that had escaped.

"Carried away?" asked another member of the Furious Five who was also in the dimly lit room, a large box wobbling into view seemingly of its own accord before dropping to the floor and tiny Mantis leaping out from behind it to land on top. "You stood there trying to plan out the best possible way for us to just enter the village that was being robbed for ten whole minutes and most of them had scarpered to who knows where before you would let us go past!"

"Come on, guys," Po threw up his arms. "You've got to make a spectacular entrance when you go in and face the bad guys. It's a classic scene, where you let the victims know that the heroes have arrived while letting the bad guys know that they're about to get a major butt-kicking all in the same motion. We did it when the musician's village was being attacked by those wolves of Lord Shen's."

"Yes, but the effect of that was rather ruined by the fact that I had to _catch_ you to prevent you from crashing into the ground _twice_ during that entrance," said Crane, another member of the Five. "And then when we all landed in stance, you were still facing the wrong way."

"Yeah, and that's why I wanted to make sure we got it right this time," Po said. "You can't just go storming in and taking out the enemy without making an entrance. Otherwise there's no point."

"I believe the point of that would have been to deal with the bandits," Monkey swung down from a shelf near the ceiling. "Which we couldn't really do just standing there while you planned out what each of us were meant to do."

"Again, I said I was sorry for that," Po mumbled.

"Lay off him a little, guys," the finally member of the Furious Five, Viper, instructed them as she slithered out from beneath another shelf, hacking dust. "Po's finally living the dream he's had all his life – it's only natural that he should want it to be as he envisioned it."

"Thank you, Viper," Po grinned. "At least somebody's on my side."

"Let's just make sure that next time we do things faster," Tigress suggested. "I'd rather not be sent in to accomplish any tasks such as this any more than necessary in the future."

"Yeah, cleaning out and organising the archives of the Jade Palace?" Crane lifted a wing to gesture around the dark shelf-stacked room. "Not really my idea of fun."

"It's not that bad," Po grinned. "They've got some _amazing_ stuff in here. Like all these scrolls that were written by Master Flying Rhino himself. There's got to be some _awesome_ new Kung-fu moves that I can learn from these things… and, and here!" he rifled through a box and pulled out a perfectly round shield. "The shield of Captain Alligator! Why isn't this on display in the Sacred Hall of Warriors with all the other cool stuff?"

"He's got a point with that one," Mantis chuckled. "Definitely nicer to look at than the Invisible Trident of Destiny."

"And _safer_ to look at than the Sword of Heroes," Monkey agreed.

"Po," Tigress interjected, resting the shield from Po's hands. "We're not here to see what's cool and what's not. We're supposed to be organising and categorising all of the scrolls in here as part of Master Shifu's disciplinary action. And the sooner that we get it done and get out of here we can all go and have some out that noodle soup you love so much."

Po's stomach growled loudly and he patted it a bit sheepishly. "Well, I gotta admit that does sound good."

"Then let's get to it," Viper nodded, hooking out a couple of scrolls with her tail. "I think these are some of the ancient scrolls written by Oogway during his earlier years. Where do these go?"

"Let's start a pile next to the Bow of Fate and the Hammer of Thunder," Mantis suggested.

"What about in there?" Po asked, pointing to a small cabinet hanging from the wall with a chain wrapped around it and linked with a heavy looking iron padlock in the middle.

"No, Po," Tigress placed a paw on his chest to stop him from moving over to it. "Master Shifu has given us all express orders not to look in there and I won't have us getting into any further trouble than we already have."

"Why, what's in there?"

"Just leave it, Po," Tigress gave him a stern look.

"Alright, alright," Po nodded. Tigress turned back to heap together a bunch of other scrolls and Po went back to doing the same thing. For about five seconds. Stealthily as a panda was able to be, which was actually surprisingly stealthy now that he'd got in some practice, he stepped over to the cabinet and stood in front of it, decisively breaking the chain with a swift stroke of one paw and pulling it open before any of the five could register what was happening.

As his eyes fixed on the single item inside, they lit up and he gasped in delight. "Whoooaa!" he breathed. "Is that what I think it is?"

The Furious Five swung around, eyes wide. "Po!" Tigress cried as the panda took the item out of the cabinet – a small handheld mirror with an ornate silver frame decorated with swirling vortexes and intricately carved, but strange animals. "Stop!"

"It is, isn't it?" Po cried in delight. "It's the Mirror of Parallex! Legend tells that this mirror has the power to take anyone who looks into it into other dimensions with just a single thought. Ohohoho! I've always wondered if this was evil real but…"

"Po! Put it back!" Tigress cried. "The Mirror of Parallex is not to be meddled with! You don't know what…"

But before she had finished talking the Mirror suddenly began to glow with a searing white light, which enveloped Po's head and forced him to shield his eyes with his other paw. The Furious Fives started forwards simultaneously in alarm, not sure what they were going to do but planning to either yank the mirror out of his hands or push him out of the way of whatever was about to happen.

But it was a futile gesture. As their own bodies all entered the light emanating from the mirror, there was an unpleasant sensation in the pits of all their stomachs as if they had been flung upwards by a giant catapult and all six of them and the Mirror disappeared in a flash and swirl of colours, leaving the dust of the room swirling and a couple of scrolls rolling away.

After that, the room remained dark and completely empty, devoid of Kung-fu Masters.

* * *

"So… remind me why we're here again?" the small, white bunny with big ears asked.

"Terriermon!" chided the blue haired human boy sitting behind him.

"What?" Terriermon asked with a pout. "I was just asking."

"Have you not been paying attention to anything that we told you?" asked their mount, an enormous cat creature with orange fur lined with black stripes, huge eagle-like wings sprouting from its shoulders, a long thin tail and a round, purple shield at the top of each limb – one of the twelve (or rather eleven) Devas, servants of the Digimon Sovereigns, whose name was Mihiramon.

"Some of our fellow Devas have gone missing when out on patrol recently," said the other flying being, the huge serpentine dragon Digimon Majiramon – another one of the Devas. "We don't know where they could have gone or where they were when they disappeared – it's like they've all completely disappeared off the map. We thought that Lopmon should be informed that something seemed to be happening to her former comrades."

"Yeah… I know _why_ we're here," Terriermon said. "I know all of that. What I was asking is why we _need_ to be here. I mean I know that there's trouble in paradise for you Devas and all but it sounds like something that you could handle for yourself, surely. How many places could somebody the size of Vikaralamon be hiding?"

"We've _tried_ searching for them," sighed Mihiramon. "We've done it all ourselves but we've found nothing, so we only thought that we should let Lopmon know just in case we Devas were being targeted for some reason. If we were then she too might have been in danger."

"And you know that I cannot just abandon my former comrades if they're in trouble," Lopmon said from Majiramon's back. "They were the only family that I had until I met Suzie and the rest of you guys," she added.

"And I wasn't going to let Lopmon go off without me," Suzie said, hugging the bunny close to her from behind and causing Lopmon to start hacking as she struggled for air.

"And if Suzie goes…" Henry started.

"…Then so do we," Terriermon nodded. "Yeah, fair enough I suppose. Which Devas did you say had gone missing again? Besides Vikaralamon that is. Seriously, where could a guy that big possibly hide himself. It's not like you wouldn't see him if he was just hiding behind a tree."

"Not unless it was one seriously big tree," Henry agreed.

"We don't know where they are and that's what worries us," Majiramon said. "Even the Sovereigns are at a loss to explain their current whereabouts. But in answer to your question, five of us have gone missing so far. Besides Vikaralamon, there's also Pajiramon, Indramon, Caturamon and Vajramon."

"The pig, the sheep, the horse, the dog and the ox," Terriermon said grimly. "Including the one that doesn't like us most – Indramon. Are we really going to try and rescue his sorry butt?"

"Indramon might be a stubborn old mule but he's loyal enough to the Sovereigns," Lopmon countered. "It's true that we rarely saw eye to eye but he is still a Deva. That means that if we can find where he is then we are going to rescue him just as we will rescue the others. Still it is alarming that all of them could disappear without a trace. That's almost half of our original number."

"Do you think they could have been deleted somehow?" asked Henry, worriedly.

"I doubt it," Mihiramon shook his head. "If one of them had been deleted then it's likely that Anubimon would express deliver their Digi-Egg back to the doorstep of the Sovereigns. No, whatever has happened to them it will be more complex than having them simply be deleted. At least I assume so."

"Well I hope that the teachers don't take it out too hard on you guys from missing school to come and help us," Lopmon chuckled.

"Oh, things might get a bit rowdy when they get back," Terriermon grinned. "Especially when Rika gets mad that you went on a dangerous sounding mission without taking her along, Henry."

"Yeah, let's just stay off that particular subject shall we?" Henry shuddered. "And focus on actually finding the missing Devas."

"We're approaching the rendezvous point where we'll be meeting with the others," Mihiramon called as he swept down towards the floor of the desert level they had been flying across for the whole conversation, Majiramon following close behind.

As they neared the ground, several other figures looked up to see them approach, and as they descended they began to look much more familiar to them. The remaining four Devas were all gathered together, watching them approach – the huge, serpentine Sandiramon, the robust rooster Sinduramon, the small rat Kumbhiramon and the meddling monkey, Makuramon.

Makuramon's face twisted into a look of disgust at the sight of the Tamers when the dragon and the tiger alighted on the ground. "Oh, now this I object to," he sniffed. "I mean really, what were you two thinking? I said all along that informing Lopmon was unnecessary but now we're bringing back the humans to work with us in an internal affair like this. Where will it end? With all twelve of us running around doing the bidding of one of these small creatures."

"Know your place, Makuramon," Sandiramon hissed, looming over the much smaller Deva. "The Sovereigns have decreed that the Tamers are trusted allies of ours now, which means that were are no longer enemies with them. You would do well to remember that before you do something that would lead Azulongmon to strip you of your rank as Deva."

"Demote me?" Makuramon asked indignantly. "That will never happen."

"Whatever, Monkey-boy," Sinduramon waved a wing contemptuously as the Tamers and their bunnies disembarked. "There are only two of them here anyway. And Lopmon is here too. It's good to see you again."

"And you, Sinduramon," Lopmon chuckled. "Though I am a bit on the small side now compared to before. How's things with you?"

"Well aside from the fact that almost half of our members are missing, not too shabby," the rooster acknowledged.

"Heh. I've always said that we don't even need most of them anyway," Kumbhiramon sniffed. "All they ever did act like they were better than everyone else."

"Yes, because _you_ don't do that _at all,_" Mihiramon rolled his eyes. "Just pipe down Kumbhiramon. You too, Makuramon. The Tamers have come to help us and that's all that matters. Right now we need as much help as we can get if we're going to find our missing brothers and sister."

Makuramon opened his mouth, but since he was probably only going to object again, Sandiramon hissed at him and he clammed up.

"Well, we'll do what we can," Henry said. "Who'd have thought that one day we'd be attempting to help the Devas after our initial encounters with them," he chuckled.

"Well, let's start with the facts," Terriermon said, standing tall as he could like some sort of drill sergeant. "Where were the other Devas supposed to be patrolling when they went missing and how long ago was this?"

"When a Deva goes out on patrol its usually a clean-sweep of a certain level," Sinduramon stated. "Usually we winged Devas are the ones who do the patrolling since we can generally go faster than the ones that have to walk along the ground, but sometimes any one of us can go out on patrol. And it happened one by one over the last week. Pajiramon was the first to go missing and then the others just stopped returning from their own patrols as well."

"And were they all on the same level?" Henry asked.

"No… a different one each time," grimaced Sandiramon. "And there have been no reports of other disturbances either. That's why we worried that they were targeting we Devas specifically, hence the reason that we came to warn you about it, Lopmon."

"And I appreciate it," Lopmon nodded. "It seems like you might be right if what you say is true. But now we need to confirm it, and to do that we need to find the other Devas."

"Agreed," Majiramon said. "We've already covered a large stretch of the Digital World so…"

Suddenly some distance away there was a flash of bright, white light that caught the attention of every one of them. Heads whipped around as eyes trained on the flash, which seemed to occur approximately half a mile due west.

"What was that?" Kumbhiramon asked, as the light died away.

"I don't know," Terriermon muttered. "But does anybody else think that it's worth checking out?"

"It could just have been a random Digimon digivolving to the next level," Henry shrugged. "They can all naturally do that again ever since Calumon released the Catalyst, right?"

"That was a little bright for a single digivolution," stated Lopmon. "It might be best if we do go and look. Anything out of the unusual is suspect right about now if we want to rescue the other Devas."

Most of the group nodded and began to make their way in the direction of the light, which had already faded away, with Henry and Terriermon leaping onto Mihiramon's back and taking the lead to try and track down whatever might have caused it before it disappeared, while Majiramon seized the large Sandiramon in his hands and hauled him into the air after the other, faster Digimon, while Sinduramon took hold of Kumbiramon in his talons by the Rat Deva's pestle and hefted him up after them.

"Oh what, so I have to run?" Makuramon cried as the other Digimon heaved into the air without him. "Give me a ride with you, damn it! MA-CAAAAAA!"

* * *

One moment they had been standing in the dusty old archive building in front of the shining bright mirror and the next the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior were all tossed to the ground and ploughed into sand, around half of them getting the horrible, grainy stuff in their mouths, resulting in large amount of hacking and spitting and rubbing at tongues to try and get all of the stuff out again.

Po was one such person, scrabbling at is tongue with his thick fingers and spitting every now and then to try and get rid of the itchy sensation in his mouth. "Aaw, ugh," he said. "Of all the places we could have landed why did it have to be sand?"

"It could be worse," pointed out Mantis. "We could be out in the middle of an ocean."

"At least we'd land softer," Po grunted.

"Well we could be fifteen-thousand feet up in the air and forced to drop all that distance," Mantis added.

"You'd probably survive that anyway," Po shrugged.

"Well," Mantis folded his pincer-arms to the best of his ability. "We could be stuck in a completely alternate universe… oh hold on. We ARE!"

Po struggled to his feet and looked round to see the accusatory faces of all of the other Kung-fu masters. He grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head with one paw, revolving on the spot so he could see most of them at once with the two eyes he had in his face, but there was always at least one just behind him. "Come on, guys," he said sheepishly. "Let's not… get carried away?"

"Agreed," Tigress said grimly. "Because we already have one of our number who gets carried away enough. Po, what were you thinking using the Mirror of Parallex! If you know everything about it that you seem to know about all our other artefacts you know how difficult it is to control!"

"Yeah, I know but… but come on! We're in an alternate universe! How awesome is that? How many people can claim that they have done this in their lives?"

"And can we get _back_?" Crane asked pointedly.

"Well, of course we can," Po grinned. "I read about the Mirror of Parallex. I know that we can use it to get back to our dimension – in the exact same place that we departed from."

"And do you know how to work it?" Tigress questioned.

"Well… no," Po muttered. "But come on, how hard can it be right?"

"Quick question?" Viper raised her tail. "Where _is_ the mirror?"

Po looked down at his empty paws and blanched, searching around for it wildly, and finally he spotted it lying in the sand a few feet away. He hurriedly snatched it up and held it carefully in his paws. "Alright," he grinned. "No sweat. Now we just…"

A shadow fell across them and each of them looked up sharply. Simultaneously, five sets of jaws dropped.

"N… No… No way," Monkey gasped.

"Is… is that…?" Crane breathed.

"I think it is," Mantis was… well… bug-eyed.

"A dragon?" Tigress and Viper said at the same time, in a tone of complete reverence.

"No… way…" Po's face suddenly lit up with boyish delight. "An actual dragon! This has _got_ to be fate or something. I mean, I _am_ the Dragon Warrior, right?"

"It's coming towards us," Mantis observed.

"Brace yourselves," Tigress called. "It may not be friendly!"

"Relax, guys," Po smirked. "If it's not friendly, then we'll take of it no problem."

"You certainly sound like you have guts, stranger!" the dragon boomed as it landed in front of them. Po looked up… and up… and further up… towards its incredibly distant head. It was a lot bigger than he had originally thought and his jaw sagged slightly as he backed away from it.

"Oookay," he said, moving behind Tigress. "Might want to… you know… not startle it."

"Great advice, Po," Crane muttered.

"What are these strange creatures?" said another voice, and for the first time the whole group noticed that the long white thing they had all taken from its underbelly was in fact another creature being held in the dragon's hand, which he deposited on the ground next to him. Simultaneously, all of the others turned to look at Viper, who was staring in incredulous disbelief at the truly _enormous_ snake that was also now towering over them. She'd met a couple of pythons in her time and they had always been big… but this thing was at least twenty times bigger again!

But before Viper could say anything there were more creatures beginning to arrive, each of which was a shock to the Kung-fu masters. Tigress' jaw hung open at the sight of a winged tiger much larger than her swooping in to settle beside the dragon and Crane stared in bewilderment at the small bird that curved around a few moments later, some kind of strange rat creature gripped in its talons which it placed on the ground.

The dragon lowered its head to the ground and allowed a strange creature with blue hair and some kind of white rabbit to jump off its neck, while similar brown-haired creature and brown bunny hopped off the tiger.

"Is that a panda?" the young girl asked, pointing at Po. "A Pandamon?"

"That is _not_ a Pandamon," the brown bunny shook her head. "It's too large to be a Pandamon. But I cannot deny that it _is_ a panda."

"Are you saying I'm fat?" Po asked, patting his prominent belly.

"Nobody needs to say it, buddy," Mantis said, hopping onto Po's shoulder and patting him with a pincer.

"These are not Digimon at all," the dragon observed. "And they are clearly not human or Digi-Gnome. I have never encountered anything like them in the Digital World."

"Who are you?" growled the tiger, taking a threatening step forward. "What is your business here?"

Po leapt into a Kung-fu stance. "Be warned, Mighty Winged Tiger," he said. "If you think about trying to attack us I shall have no choice but to go all kung-fuey on your behind!"

"Huh?" the tiger blinked.

"You heard me," Po smirked. "I'll have to be all like WAH! HAHA! YOW! KAZAI!" he began to punch and kick the air with a surprising amount of precision but the ridiculous noises he was making kinda lowered the effect.

"What _are_ you doing?" the rooster blinked.

"Martial arts," the boy said. "Kung-fu by the looks of it. I know quite a bit of Tai Chi myself. Essentially it's a fighting style, but its also about being the best that you can be."

"It's like Jackie Chan," the girl grinned.

"Who?" Monkey asked.

"Hold on," Tigress placed a paw on Po's arm and lowered his guard. "We are not here to fight anybody. We have landed here from an alternate universe due to an unfortunate mishap and we intend to be leaving as soon as possible."

"Wait a minute," the white rabbit blinked. "And alternate universe. So these guys are actually animals like those in the Human World but who can actually talk?... How awesome is that? Mihiramon, this is an actual tiger – the creature that your own Digimon design was based off."

Mihiramon frowned and stepped closer. "Her pelt is a different shade to mine," he said. "And she has no wings. But I do see the resemblance. Greetings, my lady. I am Mihiramon. What is your name?"

Tigress rarely lost her composure but when faced with a winged tiger many times bigger than her she faltered slightly, "Er… I am Tigress. Master Tigress."

"Wow. Inventive name," muttered the white rabbit.

"Terriermon," the brown rabbit hushed him.

"Momentai," grinned Terriermon.

"You take it easy," Po said. "This is all too awesome for me to take it easy!"

"Hey, you know what my catchphrase means?" the white rabbit blinked. "Oh… well I suppose you must. You're a panda. You must live in China – or your world's version of China anyway."

"Got that right, little buddy," Po nodded. "What's your name, and for that matter what exactly are you? And what is your friend?" he added with a look at Henry.

"I'm Terriermon and this is Henry. He's a human being, as is Suzie over there. But I'm a Digimon. Everyone else here is a Digimon – but we come in many shapes so there are many Digimon who look like other animals, like Mihiramon over there."

"Are you saying there are no humans in your world?" Henry asked.

"Never heard of anything like you before I'm afraid," Po said. "Then again, I've never heard of a Digimon before either."

"Well it makes sense," Crane interjected. "If we are in a different universe then it's only natural to think that everything in it is extremely different."

"It _is_ fascinating," agreed Viper, moving closer to the enormous snake the loomed even bigger than the tiger. "Good morning up there. My name is Viper. What's yours?"

"I am Sandiramon," the snake replied. "Forgive me if I sound rude, but I was under the impression that snakes grew… a bit larger."

"Some do," Viper smiled pleasantly. "But I am not one of those snakes. I do not need size. All I need is a flexible body and a strong tail and I get by."

"Fair enough," Sandiramon chuckled.

"Thank you very much, you guys!" growled a fresh voice and the group turned to see a newcomer running up from across the sand. "Next time why don't one of you ungrateful idiots lend me a ride instead of forcing me to run all the way here."

"Hey, it's another monkey," Po acknowledged.

"Why is its head shaped like that?" Monkey asked, stepping forwards to inspect the newcomer with curiosity. "It makes him look like he's wearing a giant egg on his shoulders."

"MA-CA!" Makuramon growled. "Well your face looks like… looks like… when I come up with a suitable retort… I swear I'll…"

"A bit sensitive, isn't he?" chuckled Crane, as he stepped over in the direction of Sinduramon and looked down at him. "And there is a fellow avian here as well. For all the differences there might be between our worlds I can definitely see a few similarities as well."

"Why are you taller than me?" Sinduramon huffed. "Almost everyone I meet is taller than me, even the other birds from another universe."

"I'm not taller than you," Mantis pointed out as he bounced over to them. "I think I beat you in terms of being a small package. But I notice that there aren't any bugs here."

"Well, that guy looks a bit like a bug," Monkey snickered, pointing at Kumbhiramon. "Will he do?"

"Hey!" Kumbhiramon growled.

"MA-CA-CA-CA!" Makuramon howled. "I've been saying that for years. Maybe you're not so bad after all."

"Why you…" Kumbhiramon's short temper flared up. "I'll show you not to insult me! And I'll show you the difference between me and this bug! Come on then, insect! Have at me!" And he lunged forwards and stabbed the pestle on his back in Mantis' direction.

Before anyone could act or even before Kumbhiramon's strike could hit the ground, Mantis had connected a solid two-legged kick to Kumbhiramon's chin, tossing him back into the air, only for Mantis to slam into the top of his head and back towards the ground, adding in a couple of strikes to each cheek in lightning green movements so that by the time Kumbhiramon's face planted into the sand Mantis had already hit him six times.

Mantis landed on his head as he groaned and stared at the incredulous bunch. "What?" he asked. "He was trying to stab me. And he seemed to think being called a bug was insulting. I had to teach him a lesson."

"Ugh… what hit me?" Kumbhiramon muttered with a mouth-full of sand.

"Never underestimate a Kung-fu master," grinned Po. "Speaking of which, I may be a panda," he turned towards Majiramon, "but I also go by the title of Dragon Warrior. Though this is the first time I've met an actual dragon in my life. Words cannot express how full of awesomeness this whole thing is."

"Dragon Warrior, huh?" Majiramon smirked. "You know… for some reason I quite like that title. I wonder what it might be about it."

"Ohohohoo," Po said giddily. "I'm having an actual conversation with a dragon. This is unreal! This is amazing!"

Tigress turned away from Mihiramon and cleared her throat. "Fascinating as all this may be," she said. "We cannot be staying here. Po, we need to use the Mirror of Parallex and get back into our own universe before we're missed. If Master Shifu finds that we've been meddling with the mirror it will be _all_ of our necks on the line."

"Oh can't we stay a bit longer," Po asked. "I mean how many other times are we ever going to get the opportunity to talk to a real dragon! Or a tiger with wings! It's like a combination of you and Crane."

"It's like what they might have if they ever had kids together," Mantis snickered.

Crane pulled his hat down over his face in momentary embarrassment and Tigress glared at the insect. "Try to refrain from making inappropriate comments, Mantis. This is a serious situation. And besides, I am true to Kung-fu. I will not be having children anytime soon."

"You could always adopt," offered Suzie. "I saw in the news that Angelina Jolie's adopted lots of kids."

"I don't know who that is, but it is irrelevant," Tigress shook her head. "Po, we need to go."

Po sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right," he lifted up the mirror. "Still, it was awesome while it lasted. Now… how do I work this thing?"

"Did you leave the manual in the cabinet?" Viper asked.

"This thing comes with a manual?" Monkey blinked.

But right as Po peered at his reflection in the mirror, wandering if he could just will it to take them all back, something inexplicable happened. Po's shadow suddenly seemed to rear right off the ground and reach out its hand, snatching the mirror from Po's grasp. "Hey!" Po gasped, as the dark shadow fell back and slid away across the ground, carrying the mirror slightly above it – revealing that it was _not_ Po's shadow, but had been hiding inside it.

"Give that back!" cried Mantis, as the Furious Five sprang towards it, but before they could get far a bolt of what appeared to be light lanced into the ground right in front of them and brought them screeching to an alarmed halt.

"What's going on?" Henry asked, as everyone around them immediately tensed up at the sudden attack.

"Going on?" said a voice unknown to all of them, as a figure emerged from out of a nearby pile of boulders, the shadow on the ground surging towards it and extending upwards to pass the mirror into the figures hand. "Why… it is the hour of change. That it is what is going on, human youth."

"Eh?" Po blinked. "What the heck is that supposed to be?" Everyone stared at the strange being, covered in green armour with a head and shoulder guards that tapered into a point a pair of round mirrors strapped to each arm like shields, with another mirror in his chest and another round one on his head that seemed to be acting as his face, with a thin red mouth set into it but no other facial features.

"Another Digimon," Henry raised his D-Arc and scanned it, the information appearing almost instantly. "Mercurymon. A Mutant type Digimon. Champion Level. It's main attack is Dark Reflection."

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about, kid, but that guy has the Mirror of Parallex!" Po socked his palm with his fist. "You think you can steal something from the Dragon Warrior. You're about the feel the thunder, my friend."

"Overconfidence shall get you nowhere in this fight," the Mercurymon's mouth twisted into a smirk, clasping the mirror firmly in one hand. "With this, I believe that I have every advantage."

"Careful, Po," Tigress said warningly. "If he breaks the mirror then we may be stranded here."

"Break it?" Mercurymon chuckled. "Oh no. I would never break such a valuable item. I have been looking for something like this for some time. Something which would allow me to gain the advantage I seek," he grinned. "And how fortunate that it should fall into my clutches in the presence of the remaining Devas."

"What?" Sandiramon said sharply. "What do you know about the missing members?"

"You shall find out soon enough," Mercurymon grinned. "Now excuse me while I gain more power." And suddenly he placed the Mirror of Parallex against the mirror in his torso and began to glow a bright white.

"What's he doing?" Suzie asked.

"I believe he is merging his data with that mirror!" Sandiramon cried in alarm. "If that mirror is powerful enough to allow people to move from one dimension to another then that means he would be boosting his own power by merging with it."

"He's forcing himself to digivolve!" realised Terriermon.

"We cannot let him take the mirror!" Tigress snarled and the Kung-fu masters rushed forwards, but they were too late. Mercurymon's glowing body expanded and enveloped the mirror and immediately began to balloon outwards and upwards, growing at an absurd rate while twisting and distorting into a brand new, strange form, and his voice could be heard laughing the whole time.

"What's happening?" Monkey cried.

"He's digivolving!" Henry shouted.

"Henry, don't you think we should get bigger too?" Terriermon cried.

Henry nodded and was about to kickstart a biomerge, when a booming laugh interrupted his train of thought and the new Digimon finished forming, looming over everybody, even Majiramon.

"Your efforts shall be futile," it said as the light show died down. "For everything is finally falling into place for me."

"What the heck is that?" Mantis blustered.

For what now stood before them barely even looked like a living thing. It seemed to be made up of ten giant green orbs, each with at least one red eyeball set in it except for the one at the top, which had a huge, gaping mouth, and the one in the middle which bore the Crest of Light, and all the orbs were connected by long golden tubes, like branches.

Henry's D-Arc flashed up the data on this new form. "Sakkakumon," he said. "Ultimate level Mutant Digimon. It says it's only special attack here is something called Rumble Blend."

"Look at that mouth," Terriermon recoiled. "Now that is something that nobody would want to kiss."

"What just happened?" Monkey asked. "Where is the mirror?"

The huge mouth at the top opened and laughed. "The mirror?" it repeated. "Why, I have absorbed the mirror into my Digital make-up of course. I now have dimensional power running throughout my entire body. And now I shall do what I came here for. Come Servants of the Sovereigns. I will have much use for you!"

"Are you behind the disappearance of our fellow Devas!" Sinduramon cawed. "Tell us what you know or…!"

Before he could continue the sentence several red beams of light lanced out of the many eyeballs dotted across the huge orbs, or tifarets, and enveloped the Devas. There were cries of alarm from each of them as they were suddenly yanked upwards as if by a Data Stream and surged up towards the giant Digimon.

"What's going on?" Suzie shouted.

"Hurry!" Tigress cried. "We have to get that mirror back!"

"Let's go, guys! YEAH!" Po yelled as he suddenly leapt into one of the beams of light.

"PO! WAIT!" Viper cried and tried to hook him out with her tail but Po was yanked upwards so fast that she was dragged in with him. Almost without thinking, the rest of the Five darted into the closest beams of light as well and were zapped up by the giant being as well, right before the beams of light closed and left the area devoid of anything but the Tamers and their partners standing before the giant Sakkakumon.

"Henry, now might be a really good time for us to biomerge and kick this guy's… wait, where do kick ten giant balls?" Terriermon started.

"We can't," Lopmon said. "He's sucked the Devas inside him. If we destroy him now we could kill them."

Henry was about to say more when more red beams lanced out from behind Sakkakumon and into the rocks, and Henry could distinguish more shapes being sucked up the beams and into the huge Digimon's body. "Looks like they're going to have some company in there," he murmured. "What does he want with the Devas anyway?"

* * *

The first thing Tigress noticed was the heat. As she materialised out of nowhere she span to land smoothly on all fours and reared back almost immediately at how hot the ground was. She blinked, surprised to find herself surrounded by what appeared to be several enormous volcanoes, with rivers of lava criss-crossing the landscape all around her.

She supposed she should count herself lucky that she had not landed in one of those. Honestly how did a peaceful afternoon organising the archives turn into this?

She had company too – Mihiramon looked around at her as she landed. "Oh," he said. "It's you. What are you doing here?"

"Rather foolishly, I leapt into the beam of light that sucked you up," Tigress grimaced. "I intended to find a way of getting the mirror back from that creature. But now it is nowhere in sight? Where are we?"

"Inside Sakkakumon," Mihiramon grimaced.

"Excuse me?" Tigress blinked.

"I have heard stories of this Digimon in the past," Mihiramon replied. "Though I thought it was only a myth. According to the story, each of its ten tifarets contains an alternate dimension, each one based on one of the ten elements. My guess he must have used the power of that mirror to create his new body and construct all of the dimensions that go inside those tifarets. And right now… I believe we are in the Flame Sphere."

"This is… one of the most ludicrous things I have ever heard in my life," Tigress folded her arms.

"Well, you come from an alternate reality so I wouldn't expect you to understand," Mihiramon sniffed. "The question is, how do we get out of here?"

Tigress was about to reply when suddenly there was an explosion of lava from out of one of the nearby rivers. Both the tigers scattered instantly as molten rock splattered down on the spot where they had been standing and a figure emerged from within the lava – one which looked like some kind of bipedal lion with a huge head of golden hair and an armoured chest and arms.

"A Flaremon?" Mihiramon blinked. "What…?"

"Come on then," Flaremon grinned. "Let's battle – cat to cat!" And with seemingly no warning or explanation he charged straight for Mihiramon. **"RED LION DANCE!"** he leapt into the air, his limbs igniting with fire as he began to rain down a huge array of spinning punches and kicks right at the tiger Deva.

"**SAMURAI TIGER TAIL!"** Mihiramon defended himself, his tail segmenting into several rods like nunchuks and lashing up with it, furiously blocking the attacks to the best of his ability, but it was only one tail against four limbs and Flaremon still managed to land several hits that tossed Mihiramon backwards with searing burns on his flank and a dent in on shoulder shield.

"You call yourself a Deva!" Flaremon grinned. **"PURIFYING HOWL!"** he added, and unleashed a huge energy blast from his mouth which struck Mihiramon in the belly and tossed him backwards like a giant doll, gasping as he felt his data fluctuate at the sheer intensity of the attack, as if the sound waves that accompanied the blast were deliberately making his body unstable.

Flaremon laughed as he poured more effort into his attack, but then yelped as something cannoned into the side of his face, almost breaking his nose and disrupting his attack. Mihiramon slumped, panting for breath as Tigress flipped to the ground in front of the lion Digimon.

"I don't know what you are, but I will not stand by and watch you mercilessly attack a good creature," she stated with a snarl.

"Big words for such a small feline," Flaremon massaged his nose. "Let's see what you can do then." And he suddenly sprang into another Red Lion Dance and began another flurry of punches and kicks.

He was extremely surprised when Tigress deftly avoided every single one of them, springing into a backflip to avoid two punches and spinning to the side to dodge a kick, rolling out of the way of another punch and diving straight between the lion's legs and seizing him by his tail just beneath the flame on the tip and using it to fling herself into the air. He span around to swipe at her viciously with furious energy but Tigress still managed to avoid being hit, rolling in mid-air and rebounding off one of his wrists to avoid another and swinging off his ankle like he was some giant tree and his limbs were the branches.

"Stay still!" he roared angrily, attempting to bring both fists hammering down, forgetting about the flaming attack and just trying to hit her, but Tigress seized one of the long armour projections that hung down from his shoulder-guards and spun around it to fling herself into his face and slam her foot into his nose yet again. He reeled back with a howl and Tigress seized him by the mane and swung with him to slam both her fists straight into the top of his head.

This dazed the Flaremon momentarily and he tottered on the spot, allowing Tigress to slide down the other armour projection and spring off it to kick him in the chest and send the much larger cat stumbling backwards. He lashed out at her but she spiralled to the side and avoided the attack, spinning around to plant her foot squarely in one of his eyes and rebound up into the air.

"WHY YOU…!" Flaremon snarled and slammed his hands together, lighting them both at the same time. **"CRIMSON BEAST KING WAVE!"** he roared, and the airborne Tigress' eyes widened as the flames grew and formed into the head of an enormous fiery lion, which Flaremon prepared to race above his head and launch straight at her in a blow she would be unable to dodge.

"**TIGER WING BLADES!"** interrupted Mihiramon who was now back on all fours, unnoticed by either of the other two. With his segmented tail he slammed the ground and produced a sudden shockwave that threw Flaremon off balance and almost caused him to topple over before flapping his wings and generating two air blades that sliced into his stomach and sent him doubling over. Tigress grinned and flipped herself over, powering herself downwards like a meteor and slam her hefty fist right between the groaning Flaremon's eyes.

That did it. Flaremon was knocked out instantly and he collapsed on his back, out cold, while Tigress landed on the floor beside him and dusted off one arm.

Mihiramon chuckled as he approached. "That was fast but remarkably impressive," he said. "Was that the kung-fu which you were referring to before?"

Tigress nodded. "I have faced more ferocious cats than him before. But still, I would very much like to get out of this mess that we have landed ourselves in."

Mihiramon was about to reply when a large red-irised eyeball appeared out of thin air next to them. Both of them tensed, but the eyeball projected another blast of red light over them and sucked them through it into the unknown.

* * *

Meanwhile, other members of Tigress' initial group were also learning more of the situation that they had found themselves in. "So this thing is bigger on the inside, basically," Po grinned up at the towering dragon Majiramon. "I don't even know how that works but it's so cool. Maybe that's how they fit all those souls inside the Urn of Whispering Warriors. I've got to figure out how that thing works without breaking it again."

"I don't find this situation particularly cool myself," looking around at the barren, rocky wilderness that they had found themselves in. "In fact I think it is urgent that we escape from this place immediately."

"Right, right," Po nodded. "So… how do we go about that? I mean, you're the expert here, right?"

"I'd hardly call myself an expert but… LOOK OUT!" Majiramon suddenly yelled, hoisting himself into the air as the ground beneath them began to fracture. Po yelped and immediately dashed to the left as the ground splintered all around him and began to drop away, necessitating him to leap onto one huge chunk of earth as it fell away beneath him and hurtle up it to leap onto firm ground before it fell into an abyss. He only just managed to catch himself with his arms and scramble up onto the solid ground as a large shape clambered out of the hole that had suddenly formed nearby.

"Another dragon!" Po beamed. "Man, can this day get any more amazing!"

This dragon was quite different to Majiramon, with dull green scales, four huge trunk-like legs and a pair of arms tipped with red claws that stuck out of its back rather than its sides, a long tail with a huge metal spiked ball on the tip and a wickedly sharp horn on jutting out of its nose.

"A Groundramon," bristled Majiramon as he alighted on the ground nearby. "I thought that this might be the Earth Sphere."

"Let us see which one of us is the greater warrior," the Groundramon snarled and thundered for Majiramon, ignoring Po completely as it raised its back arms and slashed forwards with its claws. Majiramon roared and clashed with the Groundramon head-on, his own hands seizing that of the Groundramon and holding them at bay, but he was unable to stop the Groundramon's horn from gouging his side. Majiramon gritted his teeth but ignored the pain as he forced the Groundramon back with a furious wrench.

The Groundramon roared and pivoted with Majiramon's throw, swinging its huge iron tail with brutal force. Majiramon threw himself into the air just in time to avoid the strike and coiled his body around. **"DEVA ARROW!"** he roared and exhaled a huge blast of fire that shaped itself into an arrow and lanced down at the Groundramon, which blocked the attack with a violent swing of its tail.

"Get down here and fight me!" it roared at the airborne Deva.

"Excuse me," said Po, tapping it on the leg. Groundramon blinked and looked around, only to receive a panda going, "YA-HA!" to the face with such a furious spinning kick that Groundramon's nose-horn was snapped off. Majiramon blinked, clearly not having expected such a swift attack from a hefty looking creature like this Po, but the panda was not out of surprises for the day.

"You think that just because you're a dragon means I'm gonna go easy on you?" Po cried as he swung upwards and hung onto Groundramon's back-head horns so he was astride its neck. "It's on, Ground Dragon!"

"Get off me!" Groundramon snarled and bucked its head, flinging Po upwards. The panda kept a grip on one horn with a paw but one of Groundramon's huge hands descended towards him and he let go, allowing himself to be catapulted backwards to land on Groundramon's back and the hand clouted Groundramon in the head.

"You feeling the thunder yet?!" Po cried as the other claw came towards him and he sprang onto his hands to double-kick it away.

"Damn it!" Groundramon snarled and sprang forwards tunnelling into the ground at furious speed and forcing Po to leap off him lest he get hit by the shower of earth that followed. As the panda rolled to a stop, Groundramon erupted upwards again next to him and yelled, **"MEGATON HAMMER CRUSH!"** lifting up his enormous tail and bringing it slamming down towards the Dragon Warrior.

"Oh no," Po muttered right before the tail slammed down into him and cratered the ground.

Groundramon grinned and Majiramon gasped, suddenly cursing himself for just hovering there and watching.

Then both of them gasped in astonishment as the huge tail-club juddered and lifted itself upwards, revealing Po just beneath it, pushing himself out of a kneeling position and forcing the tail into the air. "Sometimes…" he grunted with a grin. "Being a little chubby helps. Cushions big blows like that. But that… still… HURT!"

"Impossible!" Groundramon bellowed.

"**TAIL OF DOOM!"** Po yelled, right as he flung the tail club away to slam it into Groundramon's own face before he could regain his senses, knocking him for a loop.

Majiramon grinned and called, "Dragon Warrior! Get back!" before shooting upwards and disappearing into a sudden swirl of red light that appeared in front of him. **"FLAMING ARROWHEADS!"** his voice bellowed out and suddenly a grand total of one hundred and eight giant flaming arrows spewed out of the light and rained towards Groundramon.

Groundramon blinked as he cleared his head and gasped when he spotted the incoming attack. He immediately made to tunnel into the ground and avoid it but Po had practically read his mind and threw himself into a roll that carried him beneath Groundramon and swept his feet up to kick him right in the base of the neck. Groundramon hacked and lost his focus and moments later the flaming arrows skewered into his back, eliciting a roar of agony while Po was safely sheltered beneath his huge body.

Groundramon burst into data moments later, which dissipated to the winds as Majiramon re-materialised above. Po blinked at this unexpected way of death but before he could protest another eyeball appeared next to both of them and zapped them away once again.

* * *

"I did not sign on for this," muttered Crane as he stretched his wings and pushed himself upwards above the trees beneath him, allowing the wind around him to push him to greater heights as the opponent which had sprung out of nowhere circled around to chase after him.

The huge, white creature with the head and wings of some kind of eagle as well as the taloned feet of one for its front legs, combined with some the back legs, hindquarters and tail of some kind of equine creature, albeit with enormous claws on the feet instead of hooves, screeched at him as it shot up towards him. "You will not escape me that easily, Sinduramon!" it shrieked.

"I seriously think you've got me confused with someone else," Crane yelled back, tucking in his wings and suddenly reversing direction, moving with a sudden gust of wind to send him spiralling down in a rapid corkscrew to shoot past the enemy creature like an arrow, one long thin foot lashing out to bash the creature in the chin with surprising force as he shot past. The creature went "Ungh!" as its beak was snapped shut under the force of the blow but its sharp eyes blazed angrily as it span around itself.

"You will pay for that!" the creature roared, right before a lightning blast struck it in the back and it was sent briefly spinning.

"Hippogriffomon!" roared the actual Sinduramon as his small body swept by. "It's me you're after. I am the Deva Sinduramon! Now, deal with me!"

"So you are the one!" Hippogriffomon growled. "Then prepare to be eliminated! **SONIC VOICE!"**

"**POSITRON PULSE!"** Sinduramon countered, unleashing another lightning blast from the pestle on his back as the opponent blew a huge soundwave out of its beak. The two attacks rushed through one another without impeding the progress of the other whatsoever and both struck their respective targets. Sinduramon was tossed backwards but his armour protected him from substantial damage, while Hippogriffomon received a large char mark to its chest.

"Ack!" he cried.

"This fight is pointless!" Sinduramon crowed. "My armour is the toughest among all the Devas. You cannot penetrate it with a sonic attack." And he flared his stubby wings and used the wind to send him hurtling towards his opponent pestle first, aiming to skewer him.

"Perhaps not, but a sonic attack can affect you regardless of armour if big enough!" Hippogriffomon sneered and suddenly blew another huge attack, twice the size of the last one, which impacted on like a freight train, halting him in his advance and pushing him back against the wind. Sinduramon screeched as the intense sound tore at his ears and battered at the unprotected parts of his body, while Hippogriffomon closed the distance between them rapidly, eager for a kill.

But before he could get close enough, Crane's heavy wing slammed into his throat and cut off the sonic attack at the source. Crane looked up from beneath the brim of his hat. "You should really fight your opponents fair and square," he said.

"Out of my way!" Hippogriffomon snarled and slashed at Crane with his talons, but was rather shocked when Crane swept his wings across and deftly caught the attack and turned it aside. He lashed out twice more, but Crane span even when mid-air and skilfully deflected both other attacks before his foot shot out like a piston and caught the opponent in the throat yet again. Hippogriffomon hacked, and Crane's next spinning strike slammed him full in the eye, leading to a squawk of pain.

Hippogriffomon flared his wings and shot upwards to try and get out of range of Crane's unbelievable precise strikes but Crane moved with him and span gracefully to deliver a heavy blow with one huge wing that sent the much larger Digimon off kilter. Hippogriffomon tried to lash out with his much larger back talons but suddenly Sinduramon slammed him in the side with his pestle and flung him backwards, before frying him with another Positron Pulse and sending him falling.

"How the heck do you use your wings like that and still manage to remain in the air?" the rooster Deva ogled.

"A lot of practice," Crane replied.

But Hippogriffomon had regained his flight and narrowed his eyes, one of which was still smarting from Crane's kick. "Perfect," he snarled. "While the two of you are bunched together! **HEAT WAVE!"**

"Crap!" Sinduramon cried as Hippogriffomon blew a huge blast of superheated air straight up towards both of the two avian beings. The rooster tried to motor upwards and out the way, but Crane thrust out his wings, whirling around to face the Heat Wave head on.

"**WINGS OF JUSTICE! KA-KA!"** he yelled and he swiftly flapped his wings once with the speed and ferocity of a striking snake – Viper would have been proud. The sheer force of the flap created a sudden burst of powerful wind that washed over the Heat Wave air and blew it straight back the way that it had come.

"What?!" Hippogriffomon cried, then screamed as his own attack suddenly enveloped him, searing at his feathers and burning at his skin. Considering the damage he had already taken from Sinduramon, this prove too much and he burst into data, defeated.

Alarmed as Crane was by the fact that the enemy had disintegrated, he also grunted and said, "Seriously, why have I started make that noise ever since the incident with Lord Shen? And _why_ do I shout the name of that attack now. Only Po does that!"

"That was remarkable!" Sinduramon chuckled.

"Thank you," Crane said. "But why did the enemy…"

He got no further before another eyeball popped into existence next to them. And you all know what happened next. Suffice to say, the Wind Zone was very quickly emptied.

* * *

"Damn it!" Sandiramon cried, swinging the battle-axe clutched in his long tail and deflecting the vicious spikes that were shooting towards his wide hooded neck, sending them spiralling away to land in the snow nearby and explode. The snow all around him bit at the Deva's scales with their coldness and the thick sheets of hail and snow that were pouring down around them were making it difficult for him to see, but he could quietly clearly make out the silhouette of the creature stomping towards him.

"You Mammothmon are supposed to be peaceful Digimon," he squinted through the snow battering at his eyes. "Why are you attacking like this? Are you in league with Sakkakumon?"

"I'm no ordinary Mammothmon!" roared the opponent. "I went rogue a long time ago and the rest of my herd banished me. They said I was becoming too dangerous. Ha! I'll show them dangerous! But first I shall show _you_ dangerous!" And with a loud trumpeting bellow he stampeded forwards like a thundering juggernaut, trunk swinging violently and tusks seeking to impale the snake that was only just smaller than him.

Sandiramon bunched his coils and used them to swiftly shoot himself out of the way like an uncoiling spring, sweeping his axe around to slash at the Mammothmon's midriff. But the Mammothmon turned in mid-charge and the axe struck the metal armour on his face and bounced off harmlessly.

"Damn!" Sandiramon hissed.

"**TUSK CRUSHER!"** Mammothmon bellowed and the tips of his tusks shot off and lanced straight at Sandiramon again. Sandiramon avoided one with a wild swing of his coils but the other impacted with his side and embedded itself in, exploding moments later and flinging the snake backwards to land in a heap.

"Ugh!" Sandiramon grunted, rolling himself back onto his stomach as the Mammothmon pawed the ground, preparing another charge through the snow.

"C-c-c-c-cold," said a voice next to him. "S-s-s-sooo c-c-c-cold…"

Sandiramon looked down and beheld Viper right next to him. The much smaller snake was practically coiled into a ball and shivering violently, continuously rubbing her coils over one another in an attempt to warm herself up. Snakes are cold-blooded creatures and in a freezing environment like this one, Viper was practically unable to move and was desperately trying to warm herself up before she froze to death, as was very likely to happen if nothing was done.

Sandiramon, being a Digimon, was slightly tougher and the same rule didn't apply to him, but he was still feeling the cold around him as well and it was making his movements more sluggish than usual. As the Mammothmon charged again, he pulled himself in front of Viper, determined to protect this smaller snake at all costs, even if the opponent did have the overwhelming advantage here.

"VENOM AXE!" he cried, and launched another axe made of pure poison from his mouth, sending it flinging towards the charging Mammothmon. The Mammothmon swung its trunk and batted the axe aside like it was nothing and thundered on. Sandiramon cursed sent Viper flying with a flick of his tail to get her out of the way, while he charged the Mammothmon and slashed in furiously from the side with his axe. The blow connected and Mammothmon squealed in pain, but Sandiramon was yet again gored by the huge tusks of the beast and with a wrench of his head Mammothmon bodily hauled Sandiramon into the air and flung him away.

"You cannot defeat me!" the Mammothmon bellowed. **"FREEZING BREATH!"**

"Uh-oh," Sandiramon grimaced as the Mammothmon shot out a blast of freezing cold breath from his trunk. Sandiramon knew that if that hit him, he would freeze over almost instantly, so ignoring the pain he flipped over and motored away as fast as his body could respond. He spotted the near-dead Viper and seized her in his massive jaws without thinking, clamping his mouth shut with her firmly inside as he twisted away to avoid the Mammothmon's attack.

"Come back here!" the Mammothmon bellowed angrily, charging angrily after them and exhaling blast after blast of Freezing Breath. Sandiramon twisted his body around various snowdrifts, trying desperately to keep ahead and his brain working in overtime as he tried to come up with a strategy to beat this guy.

And yet he couldn't think clearly. The cold was really beginning to get to him now and his brain seemed to be as numb as his body was feeling.

A full three minutes past of manic slithering before Sandiramon's strength gave out too much and the Mammothmon caught up with him. Sandiramon turned to face it, rearing up and readying his axe, ready for one final stand.

"This is the end!" the Mammothmon chuckled. **"FREEZING BREATH!"** and he exhaled another cold blast straight at the snake Deva.

Right as Sandiramon was about to charge madly into the attack he felt a sudden tapping inside his own mouth. Blinking, he opened his jaws and almost instantaneously Viper shot out like a stone from a catapult, using her coiled tail like a spring and shooting over the freezing attack. It had been much warmer inside Sandiramon's mouth and Viper had managed to regain enough body heat to allow her body to work properly again, and she intended to take advantage of it before she froze up again.

Mammothmon barely saw her coming before she landed on his tusk and looped her body around its, lashing her tail in place before she sprang off and wound her body tightly around his trunk, tensing all her body's muscles as she did so and constricting hard, cutting off the airway through the trunk completely and halting the attack, which dissipated before it could reach Sandiramon.

"Let's see how you like be pounded, big boy," Viper smirked as the Mammothmon stumbled and tried to wrench its trunk free, but Viper's body was much stronger than it looked, as well as slightly elastic so he made to headway. Viper shot her head downwards and released her grip on the tusk simultaneously, allowing her to seize the Mammothmon's leg in her neck coils and haul its trunk downwards. The stamping Mammothmon ended up tripping over its own trunk and was brought down to the ground with a thundering crash.

"Whoa!" Sandiramon blinked. But even as the Mammothmon struggled to get back up he felt a surge of energy return to him as he lanced forwards again, wrapping his own considerably larger coils around the Mammothmon's bulk, trapping his legs with his body and pinning him down with his weight.

"Get off me!" Mammothmon demanded.

"Not happening!" Sandiramon growled.

Still wrapped around the Mammothmon's trunk as she was, Viper could feel her body rapidly losing energy again. She grimaced, knowing that this guy was so large that even her Kung-fu was going to struggle against him since she had no idea where his pressure point were.

But suddenly an idea sprang into her mind and she smirked. Keeping her body tightly squeezing the trunk, she lashed out with both neck and tail as soon as the thrashing appendage gave her the range. She lashed herself around both of the Mammothmon's tusks and with a cry of exertion she wrenched her body. A snake's body is like a single muscle and they can be unimaginably strong, and before Mammothmon knew what was happening Viper had hauled the tip of his trunk directly into his mouth.

"Let go!" Viper cried and she released her grip on the trunk, which had been still trying to blow out a Freezing Breath. Before Mammothmon could comprehend what was happening he was blowing his own attack into his own mouth. Sandiramon and Viper uncoiled and sprang clear and moments later the Mammothmon was a large block of ice, frozen completely solid.

Both snakes panted furiously as they tried to regain their breath, both large and small shivering against the biting cold.

"I suppose that goes to show that size really doesn't matter," Sanidramon chuckled.

"Well," Viper grinned. "I would definitely say that that was a team effort."

"Reptiles all the way," Sandiramon intoned.

"Reptiles all the way," Viper shivered.

Ironically, the eye which opened up and sucked them both in saved Viper's life, for it whisked them both away to a place considerably warmer than the Ice Area.

* * *

Lightning flashed through the sky as Kumbhiramon backflipped again and landed on his spindly legs with a grunt of irritation. "How am I having so much trouble?" he growled. "Against a _Champion_ level Digimon?"

A high-pitched buzzing laughter was his only answer. "You can't even hit me, Deva. How do you expect to beat me if you can't even do that?" And a bolt of lightning seemed to spring out of thin air in front of him and slammed straight into Kumbhiramon's front. The Rat Deva was heavily armoured but the lightning just crackled across the metal and forced him to grit his teeth and he was zapped by many, many volts.

"You have messed with the wrong Digimon today," Kumbhiramon yelled as he leapt back and slashed with his pestle, but the opponent simply dodged out of the way. And who was the opponent, you ask? Well, it was a very small spherical Digimon with tiny feet and fists, as well as a metallic lightning-bolt sticking out of its forehead and smirk on the face set in its round body.

"No Thundermon is going to get the best of me," Kumbhiramon growled and whipped into several frenzied slashes with his pestle, but Thundermon just zipped backwards and forwards with incredibly speed like a little ping-pong or squash ball, meaning he was practically behind Kumbhiramon each time the Deva attempted to slash at him from the front. It was getting beyond aggravating.

Thundermon snickered again and landed in front of a rock as Kumbhiramon stopped, panting heavily as he glared at his much smaller adversary. "Do you not realise that it is futile?" Thundermon asked, a zap of electricity arcing up the bolt on his forehead. "You can't even touch me, and if you do you just get zapped. This is too easy for me."

"Oh yeah?" Kumbhiramon smirked. "Well maybe I can't hit you right now… but let's see what happens when I pull a **DEVA CLONE!"** Suddenly, there were six Kumbhiramon all standing around the boulder that the Thundermon was standing on and each of them launched right at him with a near blinding array of slashes with their single, tiny opponent. But Thundermon just smirked and blitzed upwards at a rapid pace, leading to the several Kumbhiramon to just crash into one another.

"Pitiful," Thundermon chuckled as the six merged back into one and the Rat growled in annoyance. "I guess this just means that – ACK!"

A green blur seemed to dart out nowhere and slam Thundermon from behind, sending the tiny champion flying into the ground and rolling away. The perpetrator, Mantis, landed on top of another rock and held his pincers in a combat position.

"I've never gotten to use this phrase before," he chuckled. "But why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"

Thundermon growled and pushed himself back into the air, sparking with electricity. "Who dares interfere in my battle?" he snarled.

"The guy who's about to kick your keister," Mantis glared. "If you have one that is."

Thundermon glared and zapped towards Mantis but the bug sprang over the shot with just about equal speed, bounding between several rocks, pursued by the tiny Digimon, who curved around to lance at Mantis again, and when Mantis ducked beneath him he changed trajectory almost immediately and came back, only for Mantis to spring around and lash out at him with a lash of his pincer.

The moment Mantis touched Thundermon though several volts coursed through his tiny body and he was flung away with a cry to crash into a rock. Thundermon laughed uproariously as he lanced in again to try and hit Mantis while he was down, but the bug just rolled aside again.

"It doesn't matter how swift you are," Thundermon cackled. "Even if you can hit me, you can't touch me without getting zapped, so you can't defeat me!"

"That's just unfair," growled Mantis, dodging five more lightning strikes from his equally sized opponent, including one where he barrel-rolled straight over Thundermon as he zipped pass. "Aren't you going to fight me like a… whatever-you-are?"

"No," Thundermon replied. "Take this. **THUNDER BALL!"** And he zipped upwards and discharged several dozen spheres of electricity each packing several thousand volts that pelted towards Mantis like hailstones before he too zipped down after them like a titchy comet.

But Mantis had always been quick on his feet and this was no exception. He noticed that he was surrounded by dozens of small rocks and pebbles and instantly he went to work, spinning around in a frenzy so fast that the eye couldn't keep track of it, each of his six limbs lashing out again and again to kick the small stones all around into the air like a backwards hailstorm in its own right. The pebble storm hit the electric storm full on and each stone collided with one of Thundermon's projectiles, obliterating them on the spot.

"Huh?" Thundermon gasped before at least ten stones struck him in the face one after the other in rapid-fire succession and threw him backwards, his entire body almost one big bruise. Mantis sprang up after him while he had the upper hand and slammed a pair of kicks into him before hooking one pincer around him and spinning over to hurl him to the floor like a bullet, whereupon he fell on him with a two-legged kick of such force he buried the opponent in the ground.

"And now the final touch," Mantis grinned, hopping over to a boulder twenty times his size, lifting it into the air with no problem and dumping it over the place that Thundermon had been, either flattening him or sealing him in. Mantis didn't know for sure.

Kumbhiramon blinked as he stared at the little bug. "Huh," he said. "Perhaps being small and like a bug really isn't so bad after all."

"Fear the bug!" Mantis cried.

"Hey Mantis!" a voice called out and the two looked up to see Crane and Sinduramon flying in. "Good to see someone else in all this madness."

"Nice to see you too Crane," Mantis nodded. Then he blinked and said, "What's your buddy doing?"

"Huh?" Crane asked, and turned to look at Sinduramon, who's eyes were flashing with anticipation. Abruptly, several lightning bolts fell from the sky and lanced into his pestle, and the rooster cackled as the electricity crackled over his body.

"Oh yeah," he said. "Good thing I landed in the Thunder Area. Everybody better watch out now."

Mantis and Crane's eyes both began to widen and what happened to Sinduramon next, but before they could comment on it beyond a "Whoa" apiece, _two_ eyeballs appeared, two one either side of the group. With a yell, Kumbhiramon was sucked straight into one, while Mantis and Crane were sucked through the other. Sinduramon held on for a while, more lightning surging into his pestle from above, before he too was dragged in after Mantis and Crane.

* * *

"Yaaaaaaah!" Po yelled as he ran along, dodging from gleaming surface to gleaming surface as fast as he could and closely followed by his new opponent. He had no found himself inside the Steel Area it had taken a little while before he found the Digimon that was lurking within it, waiting for its prey.

No, he wished he hadn't.

It was one of the most terrifying things he'd ever seen in his life – a huge four-legged cat made entirely of metal bones with enormous sabre teeth and huge skeletal wings sticking out of its shoulders, though it didn't really look like he was capable of using them to fly. The eye sockets held glowing red eyes and the Digimon was now chasing after the Dragon Warrior with cold, emotionlessness.

"Good kitty! Good kitty!" Po yelled. "Don't make me have to pull out the big moves okay or else YAGH!" he added as the Digimon's huge paw descended on the place where he had been moments ago and send him running off again.

"You! SkullBaluchimon!" Majiramon roared as he swooped down from above. "Take this!" and he exhaled a huge torrent of fire from his mouth down towards the undead cat. SkullBaluchimon looked up and snarled as Po slid down a metal slope to get out the way, the flames gushing over the cat and screening it from view.

"Oh yeah!" Po raised his hands. "Whooo! That's what you get for messing with a dragon and the Dragon Warrior, buddy."

But he shut up quite quickly when the flames died away to reveal that SkullBaluchimon was just fine, and didn't even look charred by the attack, a dark black aura surrounding his body.

"Oh come on," Po groaned as the Digimon turned its frigid gaze up towards Majiramon. Moments later it bounded upwards with incredible speed, stretching its bone wings and revealing that actually it _could_ fly. Majiramon braced himself and surged down to collide with the SkullBaluchimon head on, the both of them grappling with one another in mid-air for a moment.

But then Majiramon froze up. The dark aura surrounding the SkullBaluchimon was expanding outwards and surrounding him and suddenly Majiramon felt fear. Incredible, deep penetrating fear that seemed to plunge him into an abyss of panic and terror. He screamed and tried to break away but SkullBaluchimon held him fast and brought them both crashing into the ground.

Po stared in disbelief as Majiramon was reduced to a whimpering heap and SkullBaluchimon began to pound on him with its feet, slamming him down deeper and deeper into the ground which was cracking beneath him. Po instantly dashed forwards to help but the moment he entered the vapour aura suddenly he too felt the intense fear suddenly spring up inside him and he fell to his knees almost instantly, clutching his head.

"Oh God," he moaned. "Oh God. Help! AAAGH! AAAAAGHH!"

SkullBaluchimon swept its red, dead eyes over Po and raised a paw, ready to squash him into the ground.

That was when a pair of air blades slammed into SkullBaluchimon's side and knocked him away. The moment Po and Majiramon were out of his aura they both felt the fear suddenly evaporate and they blinked, gasping for breath.

"W-what?" choked Po.

"You mustn't let him get close to you!" cried a voice as Mihiramon suddenly wheeled overhead. "Don't go into the darkness around him for any longer than a few seconds or the fear will consume you."

"Good to know," Majiramon grunted as he pushed himself to his feet and growled, generating another Deva Arrow and launching it at SkullBaluchimon, who hissed as the arrow slewed through a gap in its shoulder bones.

"Po!" Tigress cried as she sprang up beside him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" Po nodded as he got up. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Leave this Digimon to us!" snarled Majiramon. "You two small ones go and try to find that mirror of yours. This is the Steel Area and Mercurymon is a Steel Digimon – it's likely that the mirror he merged with has become a part of this area of his body!"

Tigress blinked. "Then it is here? Po, come on! If we can find that mirror maybe we can end this!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Po nodded, and the two of them hurried off to try and find the mirror while Mihiramon and Majiramon swept up into the air, followed by SkullBaluchimon, and began their battle royale, Majiramon flinging several burning arrows at the opponent while Mihiramon swept around, waiting for his chance to strike at the other cat.

"Po, I'll get to higher ground," Tigress called. "Maybe we can spot the mirror from up there."

Po nodded as Tigress bounded up the nearest slope, pulling to a halt as he watched her go up. Po bit his lip and looked down at the ground with a sigh. In his brief moment inside the SkullBaluchimon's aura he had felt despair and seen visions of each of the members of the Furious Five lying twisted and broken, murdered in cold blood. And it had all been his fault. This he knew – it was all his fault that they were even here in the first place, in this world full of strange and very powerful creatures. If he'd just left the mirror alone then none of this would have happened at all.

All because he couldn't keep his enthusiasm in check.

Why couldn't he have left the mirror alone? Why did he always get his friends into trouble like this? Heck they wouldn't have even been in the archives if it hadn't been for his screw-up with the bandits. He was the Dragon Warrior – he was supposed to be the protector of China but while he'd definitely won some big fights, he still often treated things like a game.

He remembered Tigress' words when Oogway had first picked him as the Dragon Warrior. Maybe she had actually been right then. Maybe he wasn't worthy of this position after all. He was sure the Furious Five had got into less trouble when he hadn't been around than they did now.

But then he looked up and he saw his reflection staring back at him from the nearest chunk of steel. What he saw staring back at him was the same face he had seen staring at him when he had first looked at the Dragon Scroll. There _was_ no secret ingredient to being awesome – it was all in the person themselves. He remembered the words of the soothsayer after he had remembered what happened to his parents. It was who you choose to be that makes you who you are.

"Po! There it is!" Tigress cried. "I'm going after it."

Po looked up and hurried after her as she darted away, dodging between the steel piles in pursuit of the fellow Kung-fu master. And sure enough, moments later he saw it, standing embedded in a wall of steel, and raced towards it, Tigress some distance in the lead.

Up above though, SkullBaluchimon fell back under another arrow barrage from Majiramon as the dragon curved towards Mihiramon. The dragon seized the tiger by his tail and swung him around with incredible force, hurling him straight towards the undead cat. Mihiramon tucked in his wing and his tail sharpened into a point as he cried, **"ARMOURED TIGER TAIL!"**

Under the assault of the two Devas, SkullBaluchimon fell. The pointed tail slammed into his face with the force of kamikaze plane, fracturing the metal skull on the spot and causing the undead cat to burst into data and vanish into the air. The two Devas nodded with satisfaction and looked around for any sign of their companions when another eyeball appeared and dragged them away once more.

And, right before Tigress reached the mirror, a second eyeball appeared directly in front of her and before she could stop she had barrelled straight into it.

"Tigress!" cried Po and hurried to catch up, throwing himself into the air and falling in after her right before the eyeball vanished.

* * *

As Tigress and Po landed on the other side of the portal and either flipped or rolled to a stop, Tigress yelled in frustration and punched the ground. "No!" she cried. "We were so close. So close to getting the mirror back and now this! We could have stopped all this madness if we'd just been a bit quicker."

"Tigress, Tigress!" Po interjected as he pushed himself to his feet. "There's no point in that now, alright? Yeah, we came close, but we can't blame ourselves for that. Look, I'm the one who can accept blame for this whole situation right about now, but we have to keep on going. Don't worry. We'll find a way to get that mirror back. And then we'll all go home for some of that secret ingredient soup at my Dad's place. Yeah?"

Tigress grimaced and clenched her fist, but she nodded and got to her feet with a sigh. "You're right…" she said. "You're right Po. We _will_ get it back. No matter the cost."

"That's the spirit," Po chuckled but then they both looked up at the place where they had landed and they both gasped in shock.

"Wh… what the…" Po gaped. "What the heck…!"

* * *

Mihiramon and Majiramon landed a little more smoothly than Po did as they were thrown into a brand new area, both of them flaring to a stop before they hit the ground and landing on their feet with ease. The area around them was incredibly dark, completely black, and yet they could both still see despite the fact there appeared to be no light.

"Well, hasn't this been fun?" Mihiramon muttered. "Quite the adventure we're having today aren't we?"

Majiramon nodded. "It looks like we got separated from those offworlders."

"I'm sure they'll survive," Mihiramon said. "That other tiger is quite tough."

"As is the panda," Majiramon nodded. "So… where are we now?"

"Well, judging by the décor, I'd say this could only be the Darkness Area," muttered Mihiramon dryly. Then his ears pricked and he said, "Ssh. Something's coming this way. No wait… make that _somethings!_"

Both the Devas tensed as they saw shapes looking out of the darkness ahead of them. As the shapes drew closer and became more easily discernible, both of the Devas' breaths caught in their throats and they choked in shock.

"What?" Mihiramon blinked.

"No way," Majiramon gaped.

* * *

"**VENOM AXE!"** Sandiramon yelled, spitting another poison axe directly at the newest adversary before shooting away as a tentacle came lashing down to slam into the ground behind him. He was forced to pull up moments later as another tentacle slammed down in front of him, but a deep scream of pain told him that his axe had hit its mark.

He had already guessed that this place was the Water Area, as evidenced by the enormous lake that he was currently on the bank of and the adversary looming out of said leg was a huge mutated looking cross between a squid, a human and a bat with blue skin large numbers of tentacles and a bulbous head with hooked nose attached to the front – it was a Dragomon, and it looked extremely angry.

"SMASH!" it yelled, pulling the axe out of its belly and bringing two tentacles down towards Sandiramon, who brought up the axe in his tail and slashed clean through them, causing Dragomon to howl in pain. Moments later, Viper slithered over the top of Dragomon's head and sprang into the air, twisting her body like a bullwhip from hell to slam her tail into Dragomon's nose.

Dragomon yowled, and swung at the airborne Viper but she merely hooked her body around the tentacles and slithered rapidly down them to leap up and simply repeat the previous attack, smacking Dragomon in the exact same spot as before. Dragomon howled and Viper fell towards the ground but before Dragomon could attempt another swing another Venom Axe buried itself in his domed forehead. Causing another yowl.

Dragomon snarled and produced a trident out of thin air which he grasped in one tentacle hand. "You die now!" he yelled. **"FORBIDDEN TRIDENT!"** and he surged off shore and lobbed it full-force at both of the snakes, seeking to impale them on its sharp prongs. Both snakes prepared to leap back, but found there was no need, for suddenly Crane whooshed out on nowhere and span about to knock the trident off course and have it slam into the ground nearby.

"Well, you sure took your time," Viper called up to him.

"Sorry!" Crane called back. "We had a few other guys to take care of before we could get here."

"Let's pull a combo on this guy!" Mantis shouted from Crane's back as the bird lanced down and seized Viper in his feet, hoisting her into the air. "Lob the trident up!"

Sandiramon took that as his cue and hooked his tail between the prongs of the trident, hoisting it straight into the air. As Viper slithered up Crane's legs and onto his back, Crane grabbed the trident's staff in his feet and hefted his wings to swing it around to it was facing Dragomon point first. Viper then sprang off Crane's back with Mantis clinging to her tail and cracked herself like a whip once more, flinging Mantis like a bullet towards the back end of the trident, which he hit dead-on with a four-legged kick and sent the trident shooting back towards Dragomon like a javelin.

Dragomon roared as the trident embedded itself in his torso, gasping for breath. But then a shadow fell over him and he looked up. His jaw dropped. As did Viper's. Sinduramon had just appeared overhead… but he was about thirty times bigger than he had been before due to all the lightning he had absorbed earlier.

"**POSITRON PULSE!"** he roared, and the electricity in question arced out of his pestle like a… well… giant thunderbolt. It struck the tip of the metal trident and conducted along its length into Dragomon, frying him instantaneously and causing him to burst into particles.

"That takes care of that," Sinduramon chuckled, as everyone came in for a landing. "Anyone seen any of the others. We got separated from Kumbhiramon ourselves."

"No idea," Sandiramon shook his head. "I guess we'll just have to…"

Cue giant eyeball.

"…move on," Sandiramon finished as all five of them were zapped through the portal.

* * *

Some of you might be wondering… where the heck is Monkey in all of this?

Well, to answer that question, we'd have to go to the Wood Zone, where Monkey and Makuramon have been the whole time, facing off against their own adversary. Needless to say though, the both of them have been having… problems with this particular foe.

"Would you quit it?" Monkey cried as he span away from another strike from Makuramon and sprang upwards to wrap his tail around a tree branch and haul him up onto it, holding a branch like a staff and using it to block Makuramon's next punch and kick in rapid succession before using it as a pole vault to escape another spinning kick.

"I can't help it, you know!" Makuramon growled back as he involuntarily pursued Monkey across the branch and slammed both fists at him. Monkey blocked both with the staff and Makuramon pushed against him with a snarl of, "It's not as if I'm in control of my own limbs right now."

The Digimon opponent some distance behind them was in a laughing fit, his hands raised and his fingers twiddling in the air in co-ordination with Makuramon's movements. "That's right," he said. "He's not? When you get ensnared by Puppetmon's strings it will take a lot more than the strength of an Ultimate level Digimon to break free of them."

"Damn it all!" Makuramon cried as he was flung into a backflip that Monkey sprang out of the way of by leaping off the branch and swinging from it by his tail, throwing himself into the air and swinging around a tree-trunk to throw himself at Puppetmon.

"Then I just have to take care of you!" the Kung-fu master cried.

"Ah-ah-ah!" Puppetmon heaved Makuramon off the branch and swung him on a collision course with Monkey. Monkey somersaulted overhead to avoid the flying Deva, but he was forced to repeat the motion when Puppetmon swung Makuramon back again. "You have to fight your friend before you can get to me, you see."

"No, I will not," Monkey grimaced as Makuramon tried to sweep kick him under Puppetmon's command, forcing him to leap back so he was balancing on his tail. He then lashed out with his thumbed feet and seized Makuramon by the arms, hoisting him into the air while still balancing on his tail and tossing him to one side, before springing onto his stick and catapulting right at Puppetmon. "I will fight you instead!" He brought the stick slamming down towards Puppetmon's head.

The wooden Mega Digimon grimaced and released Makuramon, grabbing his hammer and raising to block the strike. But Puppetmon was no Kung-fu master and Monkey was the most agile of the Furious Five. Monkey skilfully levered the hammer out of the way and slammed the butt of the stick into Puppetmon's chest to send him stumbling backwards and in a flurry of motion Monkey had spun around to bash Puppetmon across the face three more times before he slammed the staff yet again into the Mega's stomach so hard the stick snapped.

"Oof," Puppetmon cried. But then he stood up and grinned, swinging his hammer at Monkey who flung himself backwards and out the way. "You really think a wooden stick is going to do any good against a wooden Digimon."

"Maybe not, but will this!" Monkey grinned, lashing out with his tail, which curled around Puppetmon's neck like a lasso and using it to haul himself down and plant both feet into the Puppet's face. Puppetmon yelled and stumbled backwards, falling unceremoniously onto his butt.

"Hey!" he protested.

Monkey snickered.

"Alright then, you asked for it," Puppetmon growled, grabbing his hammer again. **"PUPPET PUMMEL!"** he cried, sending a huge volley of energy bullets out of the holes in the hammer end. Monkey blanched and dodged backwards agilely, seizing another tree branch and snapping it off to make another staff and spinning it around madly in an attempt to deflect the shots, but they just slammed through the staff and forced Monkey to take shelter behind a tree.

"Yeah, now you're getting it," Puppetmon grinned. "I am not to be messed with, you hear?"

"**DEVA BALL!"** Makuramon yelled, leaping into the air and hurling a small sphere from out of his hand, which shot downwards and crashed into Puppetmon's forehead. Puppetmon growled and turned to face Makuramon but the ball promptly hit him in the back of the head. Makuramon grinned. "You aren't the only one who can control things," he said, waving his hand to send the ball crashing back into Puppetmon's face and then into the side of his head and then into the top.

Puppetmon's grip on his hammer tightened and he sprang up, spinning around to face the incoming orb and swept at it with his hammer. Makuramon jerked the ball aside so that the hammer missed, but Puppetmon's real intention became clear when he yelled, **"FLYING CROSS CUTTER!"** and lobbed the wooden cross on his back at him.

"MA-CA!" Makuramon yelled as the object scythed through the air at him, but Monkey hared out of nowhere and yanked him out of the way, pulling him off the branch he was standing on and to the ground, As the cross returned to Puppetmon's hand, the two monkeys got to their feet and faced off against him again.

"He's tougher than he looks," Monkey observed.

"It is to be expected," Makuramon grimaced. "He _is_ a Mega-level Digimon after all. But it looks like none of our attacks have done any permanent damage so far."

"Any suggestions?"

"If I could hit him with my Primal Orb attack I would be able to drain his strength away," Makuramon said.

"Yeah?" Puppetmon raised his hands. "Well, I won't give you the chance. Come a step closer and you'll both become my puppets. In fact, why don't I just do that anyway. Then I can make you fight each other to my heart's content."

"Crap! Out of the way!" Makuramon cried as Puppetmon cast out his strings, but even as they sought to latch onto the two monkeys, Puppetmon was interrupted by something slashing into his back.

"AGH!" Puppetmon cried in surprise and stumbled around to find Kumbhiramon spinning through the air towards him once more to slash at him again. Puppetmon tried to grab his hammer and block but the Deva knocked the weapon aside so it fell to the ground and slashed at his front with his pestle once again.

"So what if he's a Mega," Kumbhiramon sneered. "We can take this guy down. At least I can actually _hit_ the guy this time."

"I don't think so," Puppetmon scowled, leaping back and grabbing his Flying Cross Cutter again to heave it at the Rat Deva. But before it could connect both Makuramon and Monkey worked in unison, swinging down from the tree they had climbed with the use of the distraction and seizing the flying projectile in their hands with remarkable precision, bringing it to a stop and throwing it back in tandem. Puppetmon screamed in pain and the Cross Cutter sliced into his chest and bowled him over backwards.

"Let's do this!" Kumbhiramon cried as he dashed past the monkeys and threw himself into another whirling spin.

"No!" Puppetmon screamed and lashed out with more strings, ensnaring the Rat by each of his limbs and forcibly twisting him around so that he was facing the other two instead.

"Damn! He got the bug-like one," Monkey cried.

"Indeed," Puppetmon grinned. "Why don't I make friends fight each other again, huh?" And he controlled Kumbhiramon to charge straight towards the other two with pestle at the ready.

"Block me," Kumbhiramon replied calmly, then he added, **"DEVA CLONE!"** Once again, five identical copies of Kumbhiramon suddenly split away from the original and all of them whipped around to charge straight at Puppetmon, for none of them were under the Mega's control.

Puppetmon didn't have any time to react to this and the Rat copies quickly surrounded him and all slashed at him at the same time, tearing lines across his wood and causing him to yell in pain. Makuramon and Monkey both grabbed the original Kumbhiramon as the copies sliced through the strings as well.

"Now, Makuramon!" All the Kumbhiramon yelled as they also cut straight through the strings that attached Puppetmon to his Flying Cross Cutter.

"MA-CA!" cried Makuramon in triumph. **"PRIMAL ORB!"** he lashed out with one hand and send a clear beam lancing at the floored Puppetmon, which enveloped him and trapped him inside a clear sphere. Puppetmon gasped and reached for his hammer, but he didn't have the thing anymore, and he began to feel his energy being drained away almost immediately.

"Hammer," he groaned. "Where's my hammer?"

"You mean this?" Monkey asked, picking up said hammer with his tail and passing it to his hands. Puppetmon's eyes widened while Monkey smirked and immediately charged towards the trapped Digimon. Makuramon put more effort into his Primal Orb, draining away at Puppetmon's strength reserves as Monkey leapt into a whirling spinning leap, raising the hammer overhead. At the last second, Makuramon dropped the Primal Orb right before Monkey's strike could hit it and Monkey cried, **"MONKEY PUMMEL!"**

Puppetmon screeched as the hammer snapped his metal nose and cracked his wooden face, sending him crashing back into a tree where he finally exploded into data.

"Haha!" Kumbhiramon sneered. "Not even a Mega is a match for we Devas when we get serious!"

"I think that might have been a rather weak Mega by Puppetmon standards," Makuramon muttered to himself, but of course he would never admit that. "But you weren't bad for a newcomer," he added to Monkey.

"Heh!" Monkey grinned. "You've got a few moves yourself."

And, predictably, a sudden eyeball opened and all three of them were flung into another portal.

* * *

Two sets of eyeballs appeared in the Darkness Area at the same time and disgorged a large number of individuals all at once. It was a wonder that they all didn't end up in a heap, as Monkey, Makuramon, Kumbhiramon, Sandiramon, Sinduramon, Crane, Viper and Mantis all appeared at the same time and spilled out across the floor, some landing gracefully, others less so.

"Ugh, I think I've had enough of these zap-trips to last me a lifetime," Mantis said as he hopped off Viper's head on onto the floor. "So, where the heck are we this time? Why is it all so dark?"

"Did night fall already here?" Viper queried, looking around in bewilderment.

"No, this must be the Darkness Area," replied Sandiramon. "Makuramon, Kumbhiramon, it is good to see you are safe."

"Monkey too," Crane nodded. "Any sign of Po or Tigress?"

"None so far," Monkey shook his head.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Makuramon. "Is there another enemy that we are supposed to defeat hiding in here somewhere?"

"We can probably assume so," Sandiramon nodded. "I am detecting incoming vibrations in the ground."

"As am I," nodded Viper. "Something's coming this way. I think there's more than one of whatever it is."

"**HORN OF DESOLATION!"**

"What?" most of the Devas cried in near unison at the sound of the attack as a huge light burst out of nowhere in front of them. With a crash, Mihiramon and Majiramon were flung against the ground, both struggling to push themselves back to their feet with gritted teeth.

"Guys!" Kumbhiramon shouted.

"Looks like we got a new fight on our hands," Mantis said. "If actually have hands that is."

"No, wait!" Mihiramon roared as he pushed himself to his feet. "We cannot attack! It's them!"

"Them?" Crane asked, but the Devas all gasped as several figures emerged into view up ahead, the foremost of them an enormous bipedal horse carrying a massive golden horn in its front hooves.

"Indramon!" Makuramon cried. "What are you doing in here?"

"Caturamon too," Kumbhiramon pointed to the obscure looking dog that hove in view behind the horse.

"And Vajramon and Pajiramon!" Sinduramon pointed with a wing to the centaur-like ox and sheep, the former carrying a pair of swords in is hands and the other with a large crossbow.

"And Vikaralamon as well!" nodded Sandiramon at the enormous tusked pig that loomed taller than ALL of the others. "The missing Devas. We've found them all!"

"Yes, but they're not in the mood for a reunion!" Majiramon shouted. "Look out!"

"**HORN OF DESOLATION!"** repeated Indramon and blew into the enormous horn, sending out another huge beam of bright light. Majiramon and Mihiramon leapt to one side as the blast impacted on the ground where they'd been, the slipstream of the blast tossing them both off kilter and sending some of the smaller members of the rest of the group backwards.

"What's going on?" Kumbhiramon cried. "Why are they attacking us?"

"We don't know," Mihiramon moaned. "But they won't respond to anything we do. It's like they can't even hear us or something. But what we do we do about it?"

"**DEVA BLADE!"** Vajramon shouted, slashing his swords in a X pattern which caused an X energy slash to lance towards Makuramon and Monkey, forcing them both to separate as the attack scythed past.

"**DEVA BOW!"** Pajiramon levelled her crossbow at Kumbhiramon and shot off a flurry of arrows from the end. Kumbhiramon darted back and tried to keep his back to them so that the arrows would only ping off his armour.

"**HOWL OF THE HEAVENS!"** Caturamon roared, unleashing a sound attack that dwarfed Hippogriffomon's from before washed over Sandiramon and Viper, causing them both to scream out as the sounds pounded against their vibrations-sensitive bodies.

"Stop this!" Majiramon roared, rearing up and his fire leaking flame in warning, but Indramon moved aside to let Vikaralamon through.

"**BOAR BOG!"** the huge pig called and unleashed a huge splodge of black goop from his jaws that oozed over Majiramon at high speed and held him fast. It continued towards the rest of the group and caught Mihiramon and Sinduramon as the two of them tried to take to the air, the three Devas thrashing wildly but unable to break free.

"Forget this!" Mantis cried. "These guys aren't _our_ friends. I'm sure they'd mind less if we beat the snot out of them."

"Let's go!" Monkey agreed, and the four present members of the Furious Five jumped in to the attack. But Caturamon, Pajiramon and Vajramon all turned to face them and sprang forwards at the same time.

"**DEVA HAMMER!"** Caturamon yelled, transforming into a mallet and smashing the ground.

"**TERRA BLADE!"** Vajramon slammed his blades into the floor.

"**THUNDER STOMP!"** Pajiramon threw in, crashing her front hooves down heavily.

The three attacks combined generated a miniature earthquake-like shockwave that coursed through the ground and tossed Mantis, Monkey and Viper upwards. Crane was spared most of it since he was in the air, but the huge chunks of floor that were also hurled up thanks to Vajramon's attack crashed into him and drove the breath from his lungs, throwing him to the ground.

"Po," Crane gasped. "Tigress. Where are you?"

* * *

Neither Po nor Tigress were entirely sure what the answer to that question was. It looked like they were standing at the entrance to some kind of church, with light pouring in from windows that didn't exist and bathed the room in what might have been a warm glow had it been an actual church. The aisle and the seats that ran on either side of it, as well as the organ at the end of said aisle, made it look like a generic Earth church.

What was different about it was that in front of the organ was a large stone crucifix. And while that in itself was not that unusual, the fact that a tall woman with a helmet covering her upper face, a golden breastplate that matched her long hair and eight, white feathered wings was standing in front of it. Not that she had much choice because her arms were stretched out to either side, her wrists clamped in iron manacles and chained to either side of the crucifix, forcing her to remain in that position. Her ankles and knees appeared to be bound together with a long purple ribbon of some description and the cloth pulled between her teeth kept her thoroughly gagged.

"Erm… what's going on?" Po asked. "Is there some reason that that… person… is chained up over there?"

"I don't know but we better free her," Tigress said instantly, bounding down the aisle towards the captive woman. The woman instantly responded by shaking her head vigorously and letting out muffled grunts from behind her gag. Tigress pulled to a confused halt and the woman indicated upwards forcefully with her head, clearly trying to tell Tigress something.

Tigress looked up.

"**DARKNESS WAVE!"**

Tigress yelled in pain as she was suddenly swarmed by countless black creatures which looked like bats but were many times more vicious, which tore at her fur and her silken robe with claws and teeth and burned at her with their mere touch alone, the sheer number of them forcing her into the air and flinging her back across the room to crash heavily into the wall and slump downwards.

"Tigress!" Po cried in alarm hurrying over to her. She was alive and conscious but she gasped raggedly and held her stomach, which Po could see was heavily scalded through the holes in her once beautiful outfit.

A mocking female laughter echoed around the room as the perpetrator of the attack hovered downwards from the top of the organ and stood next to the bound and gagged angel with a smirk on her face. This woman was clad in black leather with a mask pulled over her face and bright red eyes, chains wrapped around her limbs, one hand with several huge red-tipped claws and a cloak that looked like a pair of wings.

"Oh now I won't have you freeing my prize," the woman cackled, lifting her normal hand to cup the angel's face and pull her head around briefly. "After all, what are the chances I'll ever get my hands on an Angewomon again."

The woman, apparently an Angewomon, growled through her gag and pulled her chained wrists to no avail, as the other woman released her face and grinned. "I have to admit, tying your legs together with you own ribbon was immensely satisfying," she said, as she stepped forwards to stand in front of the Angewomon. "Now then, I understand that I have you offworlders to thank for the birth of the Sakkakumon which we are now inside?"

"Who are you?" Po demanded.

"Such discourtesy," the woman laughed. "Why, I am a LadyDevimon of course. But I suppose you wouldn't be one to know that, being from another universe as you are."

"You hurt Tigress," Po said, bluntly.

"Naturally," LadyDevimon smirked. "I am evil, am I not?"

"I'm alright," Tigress grunted, pushing herself to her feet but wobbling and having to lean against the wall, breathing heavily. "Po, be careful of her. She's dangerous."

"Of course I'm dangerous," LadyDevimon sneered. "I take great pride in it. Now then, are you going to let me finish you off quickly, or do you want the torturous demise?"

"Hardly," Po glowered. "I'm taking my friend and getting out of here. And I'll be freeing that woman over there while I'm at it, so you better stand aside, Lady. Or you'll face the full wrath of the Dragon Warrior."

"Full wrath?" LadyDevimon laughed. "Oh, that is a good one. That is a very good one indeed. Do you not think I know what lies in your heart, panda? That SkullBaluchimon you faced in the Steel Area was my pet, and I am very annoyed that your friends killed him, by the way, so I intended to give you the torturous death from the beginning. But anyway, I could sense the fears that he generated within you. Your friends will all die here today, and it will be all your fault, because you just couldn't do as you were told. Because you couldn't dispel your fervour and because you couldn't control your curiosity."

"You don't know me," Po glowered.

"Oh, but I do," LadyDevimon laughed. "I felt everything. I felt how you keep screwing up on the job and getting your friends, who were all practically invincible in your world before they met you, into trouble. Because you always treat everything like a big game or some kind of joke. You are a failure of a warrior, and you know it."

"Po…" Tigress started, but Po raised a paw to stop her.

"No, Tigress," he shook his head, his eyes closed. "She's right. I do treat it all like a big game. I whine when things don't the way I envisioned them. I get distracted too easily by things like food…" as if to prove his point, his stomach rumbled. "And you guys keep getting put in dangerous situations because of me."

"You see?" LadyDevimon sneered. "I do know you, panda."

"But…" Po said, opening his eyes and fixing LadyDevimon with a glare. "That's just who I am. That's who I've always been. That was who I was when I first became the Dragon Warrior and despite all my shortcomings I've made it this far. It was this guy that Oogway chose, and it's this guy I'm going to stay. So what if I'm not perfect, or the guy I envisioned I'd be in my dreams. Nobody's perfect. It's not possible to be. I know who I am and for that I have inner peace. I am Po, the Dragon Warrior and a fat goofball. But this far goofball is going to take you down."

He shut his eyes again and Tigress watched in astonishment as he swept one leg forwards and around to take up a wide stance, his arms moving gracefully through the air as he moved into a combat stance. It was the same thing Tigress had seen him do in front of the cannons belonging to Lord Shen a few months ago.

LadyDevimon, meanwhile, was doubled over with laughter at Po's speech. "Oh that's rich," she said. "That's very rich indeed. You know what? Just prove how wrong you are, I'm going to take you down quickly. Before you even have a chance to blink." She raised her long clawed hand, which morphed into a single red-tipped spike and she levitated off the ground and shot forwards like an arrow. **"BLACK WING!"** she screeched, aiming the spike right between Po's eyes as she shot down the aisle towards him.

When she was three quarters of the way there, Po's eyes snapped open and he said, "Skadoosh!"

It all happened in the blink of an eye; Po's hand swung around and seized the spike just behind the tip and yanked it upwards dragging LadyDevimon's arm up with it. Po spun around in the process and hauled the startled LadyDevimon over his back to slam her into the ground in front of him, then sprang into a flip and crashed his heavy weight down on her back-first. LadyDevimon lost most of her air but Po was still in motion, having practically bounced back up still holding the spike, yanking LadyDevimon and seizing her by her ordinary hand to swing her into one of the seat rows nearby. LadyDevimon screamed as her back slammed against it hard enough to splinter the wood, and when she looked up Po was standing over her with one foot on her stomach pinning her there while his thumb and forefinger were clamped over her own forefinger, while his little finger was stuck up in the air.

"What?" she choked.

"What did I say about the wrath of the Dragon Warrior?" smirked Po.

"What the hell are you doing with my finger?" she asked.

"Oh, you don't know this hold?" Po chuckled. "Well, I might as well tell you, this is what we like to call the Wuxi Finger Hold. But perhaps its best that you don't know what it does, so I'll just say one more thing. Double Skadoosh!"

His little finger flexed down.

Tigress had to shield her face from the rush of golden air that followed.

* * *

Down in the Darkness Area, things were not going well. Sandiramon and Monkey had now both been caught in the Boar Bog as well, while Crane was carrying an injured Makuramon away while Pajiramon was trying to shoot them down. Crane was extremely hard put to avoid all the arrows.

Meanwhile Kumbhiramon was fleeing from Caturamon, who was in his mallet form and was trying to squash him like the bug he looked a bit like.

Viper and Mantis were both trying to avoid the swings of Vajramon's sword, the former trying to entangle his feet with her body and the other leaping up to kick him heftily in the nose, though the huge ox merely grunted and kept slashing.

And Indramon… Well, he just stood there and laughed, sucking in an attack from Sinduramon as the rooster tried to blast his way free of the Boar Bog.

"Damn it!" Sandiramon hissed. The Devas were weakened. They didn't want to hurt their comrades _and_ they had all sustained damage in their previous fights, whereas the attacking Devas were fresh. "Has it really come to this? Are we really going to have to fully battle each other to end this?"

* * *

In the Light Area, Tigress had managed to gain a more stable footing and had recovered enough to assist Po in freeing the Angewomon chained to the crucifix. As Po worked on untying the ribbon pinning her legs and wings, Tigress unwound the chains from the crucifix arms and snapped them close to the manacle with her great strength.

The Angewomon pulled the cloth cleave-gag from her mouth and spat out the other lump of cloth that had been held inside by it. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you very much for my rescue, the pair of you," she smiled graciously. "And a very impressive victory over that LadyDevimon witch if I do say so myself. She may have underestimated you but the swiftness of the counter. And that final move. Most impressive."

"Well, I… had a good teacher," Po grinned.

Tigress punched him lightly on the arm. "You just keep outdoing yourself, Po. Though I still don't know what 'skadoosh' actually means."

"Does it have to really _mean_ anything?" Po blinked. Angewomon chuckled. Po looked up at her and said, "By the way, why was she holding you prisoner like that? Did you do something to upset her or…"

"Not personally no," Angewomon shook her head. "That is an interesting story in itself, but we cannot hang around. I sense that your friends and comrades in this endeavour are in peril right as of this moment."

"They are?" Po blinked. "Where? Where are they?"

"In the one remaining area who's champions have yet to be conquered," Angewomon replied. "Do not worry. Everything will now be fine. The perpetrators of all of this have made a grave mistake in keeping me alive. They made a grave mistake in getting me involved at all, and now they shall pay the price. Come. Follow me."

She stepped away from the crucifix, her eight wings raising upwards around her and the ribbon which had previously bound her legs levitating upwards to wrap around her arms and float in a loop over her head seemingly of its own accord. Tigress and Po blinked in amazement, but Angewomon lead them around the back of the organ, where they saw another one of the huge eyeballs embedded in the wall and staring at them.

"Through here, we shall enter the Darkness Area," Angewomon smiled. "Allow me to take it from here once we get there."

And she levitated off the ground and swept through the eyeball. Po and Tigress glanced at each other and followed close behind.

* * *

What they saw through the darkness on the other side was an alarming sight – several of the others coated in some kind of slimy mucus coming from the mouth of a giant pig, including Monkey. Crane had an arrow in one wing and was being approached by a sheep with another one loaded, while Viper was being grasped in the hand of a giant ox, which Mantis trying and failing to free her.

"Guys!" Po cried.

"Po! Tigress!" came the responses.

Angewomon floated off the ground and spread her arms wide. "It's over!" she said, as she began to fill the Darkness Area with light that poured off her very body. "You have lost, Shademon. You cannot gain your victory now."

"Crap, it's Angewomon!" Indramon stepped back.

"What do we do?" Pajiramon sounded panicked. "What do we do?"

"You were clever to restrain me with chains with special chains that blocked by angelic powers," Angewomon smirked, raising her hands above her heads. "But now you shall pay the price for my imprisonment. **HOLY AIR!"**

A ring of energy formed around her hands and floated upwards, expanding as it hovered above her head and began to cast the entire are in a shimmering aura like a rainbow. Abruptly all five attacking Devas cried out as soon as the light touched them and began howling in apparent agaony, while everyone else felt their strength returning to them.

"Huh? What… What's happening?" Majiramon blinked as Vikaralamon's Boar Bog retreated back into his mouth as the pig screamed in pain.

"An exorcism," Angewomon replied. "That is what is happening."

Suddenly the bodies of the five enemy Devas turned completely black, and then the blackness peeled off of their bodies and rose into the air. Po gasped – it looked exactly the same as the thing which had been hiding in his shadow and taken the mirror from him in the first place. The whole room watched in fascination as the five bits of blackness formed into vague ethereal shapes, each one absolutely full of red eyes but with no other noticeably features.

"No!" one of them hissed. "It can't end like this!"

"It can and it has!" Angewomon brought her hands forwards and cried, **"HEAVEN'S CHARM!"** and swept them outwards, generating a ray of pink light between them that flashed across the gap and engulfed all five of the beings, which screamed as their bodies seemed to vaporise on the spot and they were reduced to nothingness instantly.

The fives Devas suddenly stumbled and blinked, as if seeing everything around them for the first time. "Ugh…" Vajramon muttered. "What happened?"

"Yes, I would quite like to know that myself," Mihiramon grunted.

"Yeah, I'd quite like to be in the loop here too," Po raised a hand.

"You…" Pajiramon turned to look gratefully at Angewomon. "You got them out? You got those… horrible beings out of us!"

"Yes," Angewomon nodded. "Your five comrades were possessed by Digimon known as Shademon, who enslaved their bodies to their own purposes and took total control over them."

Makuramon shuddered. "And I thought that Puppetmon's method of control was pretty bad."

"Well, that explains why you were attacking us like that at least," Sinduramon cawed.

"We tried to stop," Vikaralamon groaned. "But our bodies wouldn't listen to us. But thank goodness it's over now."

"It is not over," Angewomon said. "Not quite. Brace yourselves."

"Huh?" everybody blinked, and suddenly another eyeball appeared right next to them and every single person in the room was suddenly lifted off their feet and sucked straight through it…

* * *

"Okay, I'm getting impatient," Terriermon muttered as he glared up at the enormous form of Sakkakumon, which hadn't moved for well over half an hour now. "Henry, can we do something now?"

"Not unless it actually makes a move to attack us," Henry said. "The Devas are in there, as well as those offworlders. We can't attack it in case we hurt them in the process."

"Tch…" Terriermon muttered. "What I don't understand is, why didn't they suck us up as well? I mean they sucked the offworlders up by accident I think but the Devas was definitely deliberate. So why just them and not us."

"I don't know, Terriermon, but we may…"

Henry was interrupted when a huge column of light lanced out of the middle tifaret – the one bearing the Crest of Light and fell upon the ground nearby. The entire company of Devas, the six offworlders and Angewomon all appeared there and Sakkakumon finally moved, opening his mouth again and growling. "Damn you!" he snarled. "Damn you, Angewomon. Damn you offworlders! Damn all of you?"

"Whoa, where did that Angewomon come from?" Lopmon blinked.

"She's so pretty," Suzie cooed.

"And the rest of the Devas are here too?" Terriermon blinked. "Are you telling me we came all the way out here for nothing?"

"Your plan has failed," Angewomon rose into the air. "Surrender now or I shall be forced to deal with you too, as I have your comrades, Shademon!"

"Who?" Terriermon asked.

"Shademon?" asked Makuramon. "But I thought that you fried all of the Shademon that were possessing the other Devas."

"Is anyone else lost?" Terriermon asked.

"We are," Po raised his own hand again.

"Shademon are capable of splitting in half and forming two of itself," said Angewomon. "In the beginning there was just the one Shademon who possessed Mercurymon, and he conspired with LadyDevimon and all the others which you faced in there to try and attack the Celestial Heavens themselves, for Shademon abhor the light and need no other reason to try and extinguish it than the fact that it exists. He, while possessing Mercurymon, and LadyDevimon ambushed and captured me when I appeared in the Temple of the Prairie Level for the annual message from heaven. Shademon believed that if he could possess me then he could infiltrate the Heavens and allow his forces inside and backstab some of the more powerful members of the Heavens.

"But Shademon could not possess me. The Heavenly Light which fills my body prevented him from merging with me without causing extreme pain to his body which would kill him if he tried it for too long. But through his brief look into my memories he discovered that there were a few beings who could gain access to the Heavens who were not filled with the same angelic light as I."

"The Devas," guessed Henry.

"Yes," nodded Angewomon. "The Twelve Devas are Holy Beast Digimon, and can enter the Heavens whenever they like from the Celestial Temple because they are servants of the Sovereigns, though they are not technically members of the Heavens themselves. So Shademon went about trying to capture and possess the Devas to get him into the Heavens instead and might have succeeded were it not for all your actions here. But since I already knew his whole plan, Shademon and LadyDevimon could not kill me, for if they did, I would soon be sent back by Anubimon and as a member of the Heavens my memory would be intact and I could warn the other members of the Heavens. As an attack on the Heavens, it would allow the Great Angels themselves to actually step in, and they could not afford that, so they took me captive instead and masked my presence in darkness so the other angels could not find me. But in the end that was their fatal error, for once I was free I could wipe out the other Shademon with ease. And now, I shall do the same to the one that possesses Sakkakumon."

"No, you shall not," laughed Sakkakumon-Shademon, its entire body suddenly twisting around as if each tifaret could move independently as Angewomon let loose another Holy Air. Instead of washing over Sakkakumon, the holy aura was sucked up by one of one of the eyeball and expelled outwards and away.

Angewomon grimaced.

"Did you not know?" Sakkakumon sneered. "In this form, I can record any attack that gets used inside my body and I can therefore reflect it back or indeed use it myself. I now know the attacks of ever single one of the Devas and _you_ Angewomon. You cannot get rid of me now. I won't be leaving this Sakkakumon anytime soon."

Lopmon cleared her throat. "Um…" she smirked. "_All_ the Devas, you say?"

"Huh?" Sakkakumon blinked – or would have if it had eyes.

"I think you're forgetting," Lopmon said as she glowed a bright white. "There are _twelve_ Devas in total, not elven. Suzie!"

"Digi-modify!" Suzie swiped a blue card through her D-Arc. "Matrix Digivolution Activate!"

"Terriermon, Henry," Lopmon said as she burst into light. "Hold him steady. We can't destroy him since he's innocent and he has incorporated the mirror that the offworlders need."

"Gotcha!" Terriermon grinned, as Lopmon surged upwards, blazing with light.

"Biomerge activate!" Henry shouted, placing his D-Arc against his chest.

"**LOPMON MATRIX DIGIVOLVE TO… ANTYLAMON!"**

"**TERRIERMON BIOMERGE TO… MEGAGARGOMON!"**

Po and the Furious Five watched in astonishment as the towering Rabbit Deva emerged, and gaped still further at the towering green hulk of robot that was MegaGargomon. The two of them moved in synchrony without any further instruction needed – MegaGargomon activated his jets and shot forwards. Sakkakumon reared back and cried **"HORN OF DESOLATION!"** and spewed a huge energy blast from out of one of its eyes.

"Hey! You can't have a Horn of Desolation with a horn!" Indramon protested. "That's not right."

"**POWER PUMMEL!"** MegaGargomon responded and punched straight through the attack as if it was just a light tap. Sakkakumon reared back but MegaGargomon, who was easily as tall as it was, seized it by two of its connecting rods and pulled them together, holding the furiously writhing Sakkakumon relatively still and his iron grip preventing him from escaping.

"Now, Antylamon!" yelled MegaGargomon.

"Now, Suzie!" Antylamon yelled. "Use the card that Ryo gave to you last week."

"Okay!" Suzie cried, pulling out said card. "Digi-modify! Apocalymon's Reverse Digivolve Activate!"

"No!" Sakkakumon cried as Antylamon sprang into the air with a hugely powerful leap, carrying her so high up she completely cleared MegaGargomon's head, her huge hands clapping together and forming into a massive claw, which lanced downwards on a DNA-like helix. MegaGargomon heaved the wailing Sakkakumon upwards and the claw opened, only to close around a significant portion of Sakkakumon's bulk.

"NOOOOO!" wailed Sakkakumon as the attack took effect and he glowed and began to shrink back down until he was so small he was completely enclosed by the massive claw. Antylamon smirked and opened the claw, revealing Mercurymon and the Mirror of Parallex hanging mid-air, both of which began plunging towards the ground.

"The Mirror!" Tigress cried in alarm, but Antylamon was already de-digivolving and as Lopmon she swooped down and plucked the mirror from the air, sailing over towards Tigress while Mercurymon crashed to the ground behind her.

"I believe this belongs to you," she chuckled, landing in front of Po, and passing him the small mirror.

"Whohohoho!" Po grinned as he took it up. "You are one cool bunny, you know that?"

"I try," Lopmon grinned.

"Hey! What about me?" Terriermon's voice came from MegaGargomon.

"Terriermon!" Henry sighed.

"Momentai," Po grinned.

"Hey! That's my word!"

"Terriermon, they _come_ from China. You cannot tell _them_ that that's your word."

"Oh… right."

"Don't worry, you're freaking awesome too," Po laughed.

Mercurymon groaned and stirred, but when he looked upwards he found Angewomon standing over him, arms already raised. "No," he moaned, but the attack took effect and suddenly the Shademon within him was extracted and spilled out onto the sand. The weakened mass of darkness tried to crawl away, but a swift Celestial Arrow from Angewomon put an end to that futile attempt. It screamed as it was consumed with light and obliterated.

"And so ends that potential uprising," Angewomon said, as MegaGargomon de-digivolve next to her. "It's fortunate that Shademon did not consider you Tamers and your Digimon worth absorbing. Most likely that's because he's never even heard of you. Shademon normally live deep in the darkest places of the Digital World where no light ever penetrates. His lack of knowledge of you Tamers here proved to be his undoing."

"Well, we sure showed him eventually," grinned Terriermon. "What about the Mercurymon," he nodded to the unconscious Digimon.

"I'll make sure he is well looked after and makes a full recovery," nodded Angewomon.

"Sooo," Po piped up. "Does this mean we won? I just wanted to check in case any more butt-kicking was needed today."

"No, it is now over," Angewomon smiled. "You can now return to your own dimension in peace. Thank you for all your endeavours here today."

"Yes, you guys are something special," Sandiramon chuckled.

"Sorry about almost killing you," Vajramon muttered, looking more sheepish than Pajiramon.

"Nah, it's cool," Po said. "We know you weren't in control, no matter how confusing everything else about all this was."

"I wish we could stay longer," Viper smiled. "It would be nice to get to know some of you better. But we should get back before we're missed. We've probably already been discovered missing really."

"Yeah… and we should definitely get back before Shifu discovers we're gone," Mantis pointed out.

All six of the offworlders shuddered collectively. "Right guys, quick!" Po cried. "Gather round. I'm going to focus on the archive room – see if that helps us out."

The Furious Five gathered around the Dragon Warrior, and quickly waved their goodbyes as Po stared into the Mirror, which began to glow with the same bright white that it had before. "Come on, baby," Po muttered. "Take us home. Take us home. Take us home. Take us home. Take us home…"

As the last second he looked up and said, "Wait a minute! A rat, an ox, a rabbit, a dragon, a tiger… and all the others! Did we just go on a mission with the animals of the Chinese Zodiac?! AWESOOOOMMME…!"

And with another flash, all six of them disappeared again, landing safely back in the very room where they started.

Lopmon snorted. "Well," he said. "Looks like we made his day."

* * *

UUUUUGGHHH. SOOO TIIIRREED. And yet this was so definitely worth it. I really enjoyed writing this story, even if did end up being AT LEAST TEN THOUSAND WORDS LONGER THAN I WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDING! Hehe. Well, I hope that you enjoyed the story, everybody, especially you **xXVen-nificentXx**. I'm sorry I couldn't get this out sooner like I said I would, but like I said, life got in the way, and it was a lot longer than I intended. I also hope you don't mind that it's not really what you originally messaged me, but hey – I made it mostly about the Devas anyway, right. Since they're part of the Chinese Zodiac that actually made a lot of sense to me.

Well, see you when I can.

Fergus Flamacron, signing off.


	13. Star Wars

Hello everybody. Yes, that's right. I'm still alive. Huge sorriness for the delay to this but as well as the fact it has been a very busy Christmas and the fact I was on holiday I also had an important filming trip to the Isle of Man to do for my uni course that took some time. But I saw lots of wild wallabies and got very close to them so it was worth it. But now that I've finally done the two oneshots I can get back to the stories at last. But seriously, this is the last oneshot I am doing for SOME time. Anyway, this is for **WhiteWolfPrincess95, **and is a direct sequel to her previous oneshot "A Different Kind of Star" featuring her OC Lily. Seriously guys, I recommend you try out her stories. They're brilliant quality and some of the ideas are mine. XD.

* * *

**Reviewer Requests**

**Oneshot 11:- Star Wars**

**Rating:- T**

**Worlds:- Digimon Tamers, Digimon Adventure 01, Star Wars: The Clone Wars**

* * *

"Now are you sure that you want to go through with this?" Izzy Izumi asked, as he looked up from the screen of his small laptop. "Because you know that if something goes wrong or we try and pull out that we may not be able to give it a second attempt."

"Yes, I got that, Izzy," the girl he was speaking to replied as she turned to face him. "But yes, I'm totally sure that I want to do this. Wouldn't you want to do it if you were in my position?"

Izzy grimaced. "I don't know. This isn't exactly territory covered by any scientific principles that I know of."

"Screw that. We're doing it. Just fire the thing up whenever you feel like it."

"Whoa, whoa, Lily," Tai Kamiya stepped forwards and placed a soothing hand on her shoulder. "Chill out, will you? Izzy's just being careful and considering what we're about to do you can hardly blame him, can you?"

Lily sighed. "Yes… yes… I know… Sorry, Izzy. Just… do your best, you hear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Izzy nodded, punching in a few more code sequences on his keyboard.

Lily sighed as she looked up at the stars that hovered in the night sky of the Human World. They almost seemed to be mocking her in some strange way, but perhaps that was just her own thoughts making them look that way. For Lily herself was a star. Not a star like the ones hovering above her – she was nothing like a giant flaming ball of gas – but a star of the Digital World.

* * *

Stars were supposedly legendary beings that the Digimon spun many stories and tales about but many didn't believe to be real. But they were real, as Lily could testify. She was only a young star, approaching thirteen years of age by this point, which meant that she did not wield the amazing powers and abilities that were spoken of in the legends. She had some abilities, that was true, and she could match a few Champion level Digimon on a good day, but she was certainly not an amazing powerhouse.

Often, she wished she were though. It would have made her life so much easier. After all, she'd been held captive by evil Digimon Myotismon for a number of years – just about as long as she could remember really – for the Vampire Digimon had known about how stars could become when they grew into adults and had wanted to make her his servant to help him gain much more power. Needless to say, that hadn't worked out for him, for she was now running around in the Human World with his sworn enemies, the Digi-destined, and trying to figure out a way to beat her irritating nemesis.

About a couple of weeks ago, when the Digi-destined team had been waiting for Myotismon to make the next move, they had received a visit from a number of strangers claiming to be from another dimension. One of these had been a Renamon, who looked exactly the same as Lily's own Digimon partner and long-time friend and fellow captive of Myotismon. Along with her had been two other Digimon and four humans, as well as two humanoid beings who were claiming to be neither. One called it's a Twi'lek, and the other a Togruta.

Despite Lily's misgivings on these people and her natural reluctance to trust strangers, they had helped their group to bust into Myotismon's castle when they had been given false information stating that Wizardmon was scheduled to be executed. Wizardmon had been Lily's only other friend during her time in imprisonment and she had not been about to wait around after hearing that piece of news. Though it turned out to be untrue, the group had won a resounding victory and defeated many of Myotismon's forces before the vampire had escaped into the human world and the Digi-destined and Lily had followed on.

The strangers had stayed behind.

They hadn't heard from the since.

And now, a couple of weeks on, the supreme annoyance on Lily's life was still running around the Human World and trying to find a way to take it over.

Most of his plans had been foiled one by one. Many of his more powerful minions gathered for the assault had been defeated in the initial attack on the castle, leaving him with only a few remaining. By now, he had even less, and most of those consisted of the huge swarms of Bakemon that even Rookie Digimon were capable of beating fairly easily. Joe and Mimi had managed to get their Digimon to the Ultimate level regardless and the group had had little trouble defeating the MegaSeadramon, DarkTyrannomon and Dokugumon that remained.

The problem was Myotismon himself, for he was not only an incredibly powerful Ultimate, but also a slippery one, meaning that he was trying more and more subtle ways of rooting out the eighth child and destroying the others. He'd kept his three remaining minions besides the Bakemon – DemiDevimon, Gatomon and Wizardmon – closer than before and had instructed them to use the utmost stealth in finding not only the eighth child, but the others too. Myotismon was not above trying to kill them off in their sleep after all.

So far he'd had no success but there had been a couple of close calls. An instance of TK staying the night at Matt's house and getting up for a drink of water had saved his brother's life from assassination at DemiDevimon's claws, forcing the bat to make a quick escape. And if Palmon hadn't been trying to grab a quick meal of nutrients from the soil outside Mimi's house while her parents were asleep she wouldn't have spotted Myotismon himself coming in to try and kill off her partner until it was too late.

Regardless, she had digivolved to Lillymon straight away and had become Lily's new hero not only because they shared a similar name, but because she had punched Myotismon in the face surprisingly hard while Mimi made a getaway with her parents.

But it hadn't all been victories for the Digi-destined. The discovery of the eighth child to be Tai's sister, Kari, should have been cause for celebration. Not so. Myotismon had been keeping a _very_ close watch on Gatomon in particular after she had started showing signs of doubting some of Myotismon's decisions. About a week prior she had spotted Tai and Kari walking together through the park and had been about to eliminate them both when she had been hit with a sudden overwhelming sense of nostalgia and had been unable to do it.

Myotismon's bats had seen this event and reported it to him, and when Wizardmon and Gatomon made the discovery together that this was the eighth child and that Gatomon was her long-lost partner, Myotismon had been watching from the shadows nearby and had been quick to strike. Before Gatomon or Kari could act, Wizardmon had dived in the way and took the blow intended for them, yelling for them to run even as he passed away, which they had both promptly done without time to grieve for their fallen ally.

Tai. Lily and Matt had all been nearby at the time, pursuing a taunting DemiDevimon who had been deliberately trying to distract them away from Myotismon to let him carry out the job of finishing off the eighth child. But even as Renamon had seized the little bat in her paws and demanded that he tell them everything, her keen ears had picked up Kari's screams of terror and they had instantly rushed off to help, only to find Myotismon standing with Kari held in one hand and lashing Gatomon away with a Crimson Lightning held in the other as she furiously tried to protect her newfound partner.

Something inexplicable had happened after that. Tai, furious in the face of his sister in danger, had rushed Myotismon alone, which was something that Lily would normally have done instead. Matt, unable to see his friend do something so reckless, had rushed after him and tackled him out of the way just in time to dodge the Crimson Lightning that had been crashing down towards them. Lily, infuriated herself at what was going on, had suddenly flared up with her star powers and had been about to do everything she could to beat Myotismon down, little as that would be to such a powerful Ultimate.

The result had been some sort of strange fusion of Lily's powers over fire and light melding with the crests of the two boys after their incredible display of courage and friendship both, resulting in a sudden Warp digivolution of their respective partners to WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, who had both lunged straight for the vampire holding Kari captive.

Myotismon, shocked as he was by this new development, had known immediately that he was outclassed by the two vengeful Megas and had tried to make a getaway with Kari instantly. But WarGreymon had swiftly pursued him upwards and almost caught up to him, so Myotismon had flung Kari through the air and away, forcing WarGreymon to alter his trajectory and catch her before she hit the ground. MetalGarurumon had not been far behind but just as he unleashed a huge storm of missiles from his body that would have surely obliterated Myotismon, a large number of Bakemon surged up from below to defend their master and taken the shots instead in a huge explosion of ice.

The result – Myotismon had slipped away again, but now he was alone, for he had killed Wizardmon, Gatomon had defected, the Bakemon had all been killed by MetalGarurumon and DemiDevimon was still held fast in Renamon's paw. No mercy was shown to the little bat, though Renamon had decided to at least let him fight her one on one before she had obliterated him, the two new Megas cutting off his escape whenever he tried.

All that had been about a week ago and Myotismon had not been seen since. But none of the Digi-destined were under any illusion that he had somehow perished – they were all aware that he was out there still. With the two Megas on their side they had him vastly outgunned now but that didn't stop him from being a cunning and a damn slippery adversary. Nobody ever went anywhere alone now and they had started staying more in the wilderness to the bemusement of their rather distressed families.

Then, yesterday, Gennai had made contact with Izzy and told them that the Digital World was in dire straits indeed and the Digi-destined would have to return as soon as possible. But there was no way that they could return until they found and destroyed Myotismon, and they had already checked all the hideouts that Gatomon knew about and come up empty.

But Gennai had not been the only party to get in contact. Another, much more obscure group of beings had also been speaking to the group, particularly Lily on occasion. And many of the things they had to say and reveal had been quite the shock for them all. But none more so than Lily herself.

Those beings called themselves the Seven Demon Lords. And apparently, they were Lily's long lost family.

Seriously, don't ask.

Demon Lords didn't seem to be a title that quite fit with this bunch though. Most of them certainly _looked_ demonic, but you were very unlikely to see one _acting_ particularly demonic if Lily had got the gist of them right. One member of the group – the Beelzemon – often went by the name of Alexander and was apparently Lily's adoptive father ever since he had first found her wandering the Digital World alone. Each of the seven had a number of embarrassing stories to tell from Lily's childhood, including the time Lily had wandered into the sleeping Leviamon's jaws and almost been swallowed or the time she had asked to be told a bedtime story by Lilithmon and had to be rescued by the other Demons before she was scarred for life.

And their leader, Lucemon… well, apparently he did have some sort of inner darkness that he sometimes struggled to keep in check and had indeed once tried to take over the Digital World, only to be sealed away in their own alternate dimension by the Exalted Ones as a result. They were capable of opening portals from their world, but at present, were unable to leave it. Hence why it had taken them so long to find Lily after Myotismon had stolen her away from them many years ago.

But stories aside, the Demon Lords were helping in their own way. Apparently the Digital World was in a bigger mess than they thought, and had been taken over by a group known as the Dark Masters (whom Lucemon grudgingly noted had been the ones to seal the Exalted Ones away, which he himself had been unable to do). The warping and twisting that these Dark Masters were doing to the Digital World, was apparently weakening the barrier between the Human and Digital World. According to the Demon Lords if they had not been using their power to maintain the barrier as best as they could, they should have been seeing an upside-down version of the Digital World in the sky by this point. But they didn't know how much longer they could keep the barrier stable and they needed to beat Myotismon quickly and head back to defeat those Dark Masters pronto.

But there had been one other thing the Demon Lords had been able to provide. Upon hearing of the unfortunate death of Lily's dear friend Wizardmon, Alexander and Lucemon had swiftly constructed between them a small machine which would enable them to do what the Demon Lords could and open a portal to another world. Most specifically, the realm of Anubimon – the Digimon in charge of the data of the deleted. If they could speak with Anubimon, then perhaps there might be a way to get Wizardmon back.

* * *

And that's what they were about to attempt just now.

"Don't worry, Lils," Tai said. "We'll get him back, I promise."

"As long as Izzy can set up the code right," Tentomon voiced from next to his partner.

"It's a complex series of mathematics," Izzy frowned. "Please don't rush or interrupt me, okay?"

"Just do your best, Izzy," Agumon grinned. "We're all counting on you."

Lily grimaced and turned to look at Renamon, who was standing sentinel nearby. Renamon too gave her a reassuring smile, but then her head turned and Lily followed her gaze to Gatomon. The white cat and Kari were the only two other people there, for the others had wanted to give them some space for this personal event. Kari had hope gleaming in her eyes too – she had only known Wizardmon for a few minutes but watching him die in front of her had been firmly imprinted on her mind.

Gatomon noticed Lily staring at her and turned to stare back evenly. Truth be told, neither of them much knew what to make of being in the other's presence – the both of them had been bitter enemies when in Myotismon's "employ." And now they were apparently supposed to get along with one another as if nothing had happened. It was a little hard to take for both of them, but Lily was finding it harder than Gatomon seeing as the cat had been a far more willing subject than she had ever been.

"You alright there, Lily?" Gatomon asked, a little thinly.

"Fine," Lily nodded back.

"You look like you have something on your mind."

"Do I?"

Gatomon sighed. "Look, I know what you're thinking, okay," she said. "I get that you don't quite trust me yet, but that's fine. The stuff I did… it can't be forgiven easily by anyone as far as I can see, but you and Renamon especially. But this is important to me too, okay? The fact that Wizardmon was a dear friend is something that we _both_ have in common. So can we put this animosity aside for a bit and just focus on bringing him back."

Lily stared at her for a moment, but then nodded. "Fine," she said, and offered a tight smile, which Gatomon returned. "Let's hope it works."

"Agreed," the cat nodded.

"Aw, it's great to see everybody getting along," Kari smiled.

"O…kay," Izzy said. "I think that does it?"

"And you're sure that this thing is going to work?" Lily pressed.

"Well, we can only test it out to be sure," Izzy said. "It's not like I can just think of where I want to open a portal to like your Demon Lord friend can. If I've followed the guidelines that Lucemon gave me correctly it should open a portal to the right place, but the only way to find out is to test it."

"Then boot the thing up, Brains," Renamon said as she stepped up.

"By your command," Izzy gave a little faux salute and began to hit a few buttons with precise jabs of his fingers. The machine the Demon Lords had sent, which was really a disappointing looking thing that resembled nothing more than a satellite dish, ("I wanted it to look stylish but Alexander insisted on practicality and speed of construction," Lucemon had muttered) began to whir and flash with a series of differently coloured lights along its length.

Almost unconsciously, everyone began to crowd closer as they watched several pulses of light run up the rod in the dish to the small globe at the tip, which began to glow with a brighter and brighter light.

"Come on," Lily muttered, crossing her fingers. "Come on."

"I think its working," Izzy grinned as he checked his screen. "All systems are go. Now we just need to wait for the portal to open and…"

"Am I interrupting something?" said a voice that they _all_ knew too well.

Before Lily could do anything beyond half-spin around a towering figure seemed to emerge from the shadows right behind her and a hand lashed out to seize her by the arm, yanking Lily off her feet and pulling her into a one-armed embrace against the perpetrator's chest that made Lily's skin crawl.

"Lily!" Tai and Renamon cried at the same time.

"You!" Gatomon snarled, her fur standing on end.

"It seems that everywhere I turn amongst my own ranks I find traitors," the figure, who was without a doubt Myotismon, responded with a sneer. And now I find all the ones who remain alive in one place. I have come to take back what's mine and there's nothing you can do to stop me now!"

"Get your bony hands off me, Dorkula!" Lily practically gnashed her teeth as she struggled furiously in Myotismon's grip.

"I beg to differ, Myotismon!" Renamon snarled as she lunged for her partner but Myotismon simply spun out of the way and seized Renamon by the tail in his free hand, heaving her into the air and tossing her easily into both Tai and Agumon as they rushed forward to try and help, the latter's preparation at warp digivolving interrupted when the fox crashed into him and sent them both stumbling backwards.

"Tai, watch out for the…!" Izzy cried, but it was too late – all three of them crashed into the charging dimensional dish and knocked it askew, whereupon the lights upon it began to flash nineteen to the dozen.

"Oh no!" Izzy cried.

But Lily wasn't paying attention to that – she was too busy trying to free herself! "What is your deal!" she hissed. "Why do you always come after me like this! Don't you get it yet that I will never be your servant ever again!"

"We shall see," Myotismon sneered. "I'll take you back to the Digital World and begin breaking you afresh. And this time I shall not be so lenient, my little star!"

"Get your hands off her!" Gatomon snarled as she bounded away from Kari and launched herself at Myotismon's face, claws splayed. "This is for every pain and torture that you put _either_ of us through, Batface!"

Myotismon lashed out and batted her paw aside with ease and seized her by the neck moments later. "How hopelessly naïve, Gatomon," he chuckled. "Surely you should know better than to try and contend against me. You could never hope to match me! But now I have two prizes to take back with me!"

"The Digi-destined will come for us!" Gatomon hacked through his grip.

"True," Myotismon sneered. "But did you not know? A single day in the human world is equivalent to just under four years in the Digital World. If I take you back now, then even if it takes them twenty-four hours to get back there here…"

He did not need to finish the sentence. Both of them began struggling afresh.

"Gatomon, no!" Kari cried, but she was grabbed by Izzy before she could do something foolish.

"Kari, wait!" Izzy shouted. "Tai, get away from the machine!"

"Huh?" Tai, who had just got up and was preparing to launch everything they had at Myotismon along with Renamon and Agumon, blinked and turned back to look at the dish, blanching when he saw it sparking with electricity and the lights going simply haywire.

"You've knocked it off kilter!" Izzy shouted. "It's experiencing a power surge and the co-ordinates have changed. If you don't get out of the way…!"

But before he could say any more a sudden beam of light lanced out of the tip and pooled in the air right above Tai and the others, expanding outwards and filling with a rainbow of colours as a hole literally appeared in the fabric of reality behind them. And with it came an incredible suction that pulled Tai, Agumon and Renamon off their feet instantaneously and hauled them all inside.

"Tai!" Kari cried as Izzy tried to keep a grip on her, his laptop and a tree all at the same time to prevent them from following inside, while Tentomon furiously clung to a shaking branch above their heads.

Myotismon looked up in surprise when the suction began and he too was beginning to be pulled inexorably in the direction of the hole. "What?!" he cried as he furiously tried to backpedal. "What is this?"

"You lose, Fang-face," Lily grunted as she lashed out and caught Myotismon in the neck with her fist, while Gatomon slashed at his arm with her claws. Not expecting those two attack, Myotismon reflexively loosened his hold and the moment he did, the suction pulled Lily and Gatomon out of his grip and pulled them towards the hole too.

"No!" Myotismon snarled as he launched himself after them, but a blast of fire from Lily's hands made him pause briefly to block it before he followed them through.

"Damn!" Izzy growled as he saw the others vanish through the hole, valiantly trying to enter the cancellation code into his laptop. "Too late. But… if I can… just… THERE!"

He stabbed the Enter key with one finger and the dish blacked out, the hole in reality closing with a snap right at the moment the branch Tentomon was holding onto snapped and all three of them crashed to the floor in a heap.

"Tai! Where's Tai?" Kari cried. "What's happened?"

"This is why I always tell Tai that whacking machinery is not a good idea," Izzy muttered. "He must have knocked something loose when Myotismon threw them into it or something like that and it opened a portal to another dimension and sucked them through. And not the dimension that we were aiming for either. Who knows where they could have ended up? And Myotismon was taken along for the ride too."

"Why didn't we go in after them?" Kari asked. "We could have helped."

"Trust me, Kari," Izzy said as he pushed Tentomon off him and began fiddling with his laptop again. "It's better that we didn't."

"Izzy's the only one of us who can work that machine," Tentomon agreed. "He's the only one with the means to get them back into this universe again, right?"

"Theoretically yes," nodded Izzy. "But I still have no idea how this machine really works. I was just doing what Lucemon told me to do. Still, we have the co-ordinates that they were sent to right here." He pointed to the series of complex numbers on his screen. "Now I have to figure out how to use that information and get them back. And fast. Who knows what kind of environment is waiting on the other side of that portal?"

* * *

Any attempt to describe the ride through the portal would have not done it any just whatsoever, but suffice to say it was practically nothing but a confusing mish-mash of colour of all kinds, and involved lots of tumbling over and over, making it a pretty similar feeling to both times Tai had crossed the barrier between the Human and Digital Worlds. Agumon and Renamon span around with him, often crashing into him and yelling whenever something happened, such as when Tai's spinning foot beaned Agumon in the snout or Agumon's body thudded into Renamon's gut.

Tai was desperately trying to turn around and look behind them for any sign of Lily, and he was pretty sure he caught a glimpse of her through the spinning vortex at least once, Gatomon by her side, but then it seemed like she was whisked off to the side or something and Tai wondered if she had even been there at all.

Eventually, limbs flailing, Renamon twisted herself around furiously and seized both Tai and Agumon under her arms to stop them from crashing into each other all the time, but not without accidentally kicking them a few times in the process. And it was not long after that that the portal ride ended and they found themselves tossed out into reality once again.

* * *

Renamon's landing was still relatively graceful, considering they were about one-hundred feet up. She balked as the three of them plummeted towards the ground of the rainforest-like place they had found themselves in and hurtled towards the trunk of a huge tree at the same time. Thinking quickly, Renamon hurled Agumon into the air and threw out her arm to hit the tree first, latching her claws into it and sliding down the trunk with Tai clutched in her other arm and leaving grooves in the bark of the tree in the process. Once near the ground she flipped off and skidded to a halt, then reached up and caught the falling Agumon and deposited both her charges on the floor.

"Well," she said, "That was fun. And the portal appears to have disappeared," she added, looking up at the place they had just appeared from. "Brilliant."

"Oooooowwww," Tai murmured, curling into the fetal position.

"What's up with you?" Renamon blinked.

"I think that you kicked me in the nuts during that ride," Tai gasped.

"Ah. Sorry about that."

"Where are we?" Agumon groaned. "What just happened? Did the portal malfunction? This doesn't look like the land of the dead to me."

"That's because it isn't," Renamon agreed. "And I do not think the portal was meant to suck us in either – it was just supposed to be there. We must have damaged it somehow, and who knows where we've ended up." She sighed again. "Wonderful. And where's Lily!" Panic suddenly gripped her. "Lily! Did Myotismon get Lily?"

"I don't… think so," Tai moaned, pushing himself up. "I think I saw her in the portal too. With Gatomon. I think they got away and were dragged in too.

"Well then we must find her and fast!" Renamon said. "If the portal sucked them in, it could have sucked Myotismon in too. Let's…" she paused, blinking, and raising a hand for quiet. "Do you hear that?"

Tai and Agumon stilled and strained their ears, listening. Their ears were not as keen as Renamon's but after a couple of seconds they heard something in the distance, muffled by the foliage. Something that sounded like…

"Is that gunfire?" Agumon blinked.

"Doesn't sound like any gun I've ever heard before," Tai said.

"Nevertheless, it is a fight," Renamon said. "There's some kind of fight going on nearby. Come on. We've got to see if Lily is there." And without further ado she bounded off into the trees. Agumon blanched and helped Tai stagger to his feet and the two of them hurried through the dense undergrowth after the fox as best they could.

* * *

All in all, things could be a lot better for Barriss Offee right now. Yesterday has started reasonably well, with her heading on a diplomatic mission to Kashyyyk to get the Wookiees to ally with the Republic and to secure the arrest of Po Nudo, one of the members of the Separatist Council that the Wookiees had managed to capture. And taking two of the members of the Secret of the 327th, the brown bunny Digimon Lopmon and her partner Suzie, along for the ride, had seemed like a good idea.

It had not turned out so well. Lopmon and Suzie had been taken off guard by a Trandoshan poacher looking to try and bag a Wookiee and Barriss had chased the Trandoshan into the lowest levels of Kashyyyk's forests, known as the Shadowlands, in an attempt to rescue them, but had only gotten herself captured in the process thanks to a dirty trick on the part of the Trandoshan. Now, she and Lopmon had been taken away and dumped in the forests of Wasskah with a local Wookiee called Chewbacca, who now apparently owed Lopmon a life-debt for saving him from being shot by the Trandoshans, while Suzie had been left behind in the Shadowlands, one of the most dangerous places in the known universe. Who knew if she was even still alive?

But right now she had to worry about herself, for the Trandoshans used the moon of Wasskah as a personal hunting ground, where they released beings they captured and then hunted them down again for sport, expect this time to kill them. Three Jedi younglings they had met there – a human girl called Kalifa and a Twi'lek and Cerean boy named Jinx and O-Mer respectively, had already been there for two months and had miraculously evaded death and had advised them to come with them and keep on the run. But Lopmon and Barriss were not about to have that, and had instead galvanised them into setting traps that Lopmon had come up with while trying to think what her brother, Terriermon, would do, for the Trandoshans, so that they could escape.

So far it had worked, and several traps including falling logs and a giant net and a noose had been sprung, allowing the hunted to destroy, trap and capture the three speeders that had been sent out to pursue them at sun-up. But now, the three occupants of the final speeder were putting up a fight as the wounded Kalifa tried to pull the speeder down and allow the resistors to get on board and escape.

The leader of the Trandoshans, Garnac, lunged for her in a barrage of swings, but Barriss twisted and turned aside to avoid each one. This continued for several swings until Garnac lashed out with both hands to try and grab her neck. Barriss ducked under his arms and placed her palm on the lizard-man's chest.

The moment she did, it almost seemed like he had been caught in an explosion as he was hurled backwards and slammed into another tree. He growled as he looked up, and saw in disbelief that his son, Dar, was defeated at the hands of Jinx and O-Mer, while Chewbacca and Lopmon had royally pounded Lagon's backside and knocked him out. He then turned to Barriss as the Mirialan Padawan walked towards him. "It is over for you," Barriss stated. "Accept that."

"Never!" Garnac cried. "I am the predator and you are the prey!" he lunged towards Barriss again in a full leap, like a tiger leaping for the sambar deer, teeth bared and claws in evidence. He came down on top of Barriss, but Barriss rolled aside so he landed on all fours. He whipped around with surprising speed and took Barriss' legs out from under her, before leaping on her and grabbing both her wrists in one hand, standing up and hauling her into the air and bringing back his fist to slam it into the dangling Padawan.

But Barriss kicked forward with both legs like lightning and fell to the floor, landing with her legs wide and ready to fight as Garnac was sent stumbling backwards.

Garnac suddenly saw out of the corner of his eye, the speeder coming to land on the ground not far away, with only a Jedi youngling that looked like she was wounded manning it. He quickly dashed for it, but he had underestimated Kalifa and she sent him hurtling backwards with a terrific Force-burst. He slammed his hands into the ground and dug in his claws to draw him to a halt and made another lunge for Barriss.

The Mirialan prepared to dodge and counter-strike, but before she could move an inch, a yellow blur shot out of the bushes and nailed Garnac in the side of the face with an enormous kick that sent the Trandoshan flying to the side to crash painfully into the trunk of a tree. Barriss blinked as the shape drew to a halt in front of her and her eyes widened when she saw the identity of who she was facing.

"Renamon?" she gasped.

Renamon blinked and turned to look at Barriss in bemusement, staring at this strange human-like creature with the olive coloured face and the dotted tattoo running across it.

"What are you doing here?" Barriss asked. "How did you find us?"

"Um… do I know you?" Renamon asked.

Barriss frowned. "Do you… Renamon, it's me. Barriss Offee."

"Can't say the name rings a bell," Renamon said.

"We fought together on Geonosis," Barriss said. "We helped destroy the droid factory that was being built by that creep Poggle the Lesser? Have you really forgotten me?"

"Erm… I didn't understand half of that sentence," Renamon responded, bemused.

"Barriss!" Lopmon called across. "We… huh?" she blinked when she caught sight of the newcomer. "Renamon? You…" She stopped and her eyes narrowed. "No. You are not Renamon. Not the one we know anyway. I feel no connection to your mind."

Renamon blinked as she looked at the new speaker. "Hey… are you that Lopmon from a couple of weeks ago that helped us bust into Myotismon's castle?"

"You're the other Renamon from then?" Lopmon gasped. "But… how is this…?"

"Long story, trust me," Renamon said dryly.

Garnac pushed himself to his feet behind the talking couple and stretched his jaws, hearing a slight click in them as he did so, before he snarled and launched himself towards Renamon's back, only to be hit in the face with a fireball moments later and stagger backwards. Lopmon blinked in astonishment as Agumon ran out of the bushes nearby, followed by a mostly recovered Tai Kamiya. The same people from the TV show universe they had fallen into last week. What in the omniverse were they doing here now? She was not an avid watcher of the Digimon program but she knew that _this_ never happened in it.

"What's going on here?" Tai and O-Mer both asked at the same time, as Jinx kicked Dar in the chin to stun him momentarily.

"Guys! We need to hurry!" Kalifa called. "This is our chance to escape this place!"

"What about Lily?" Renamon shouted, turning to the Lopmon – the only person there who she knew would know who Lily was. "Have you seen Lily?"

"She's here too?" Lopmon asked. "No, we haven't seen her, but we really don't have time to explain. We need to head out now. We'll find Lily later but we're in the middle of something here."

"Who are all these guys?" Tai cried.

"Just go with it for now!" Lopmon called. "You remember me, don't you? I met you a couple of weeks ago. Now, come on. Let's move. Into the speeder."

Tai and Agumon glanced each other and shrugged. Both of them were befuddled but the Lopmon and the others seemed to know what they were doing more than they did, so they decided to follow them as O-Mer and Jinx leapt into the speeder with Chewbacca close behind. Garnac pushed himself back up and swiped at Tai, only to be blasted back again by Barriss as she helped the Digi-destined and his partner into the already over-crowded speeder before leaping onto the side and hanging onto the railing as Chewbacca took the controls from Kalifa and steered them upwards, ignoring the useless threats emanating from Garnac behind them. He was no longer a problem of theirs after all.

"Would somebody like to tell us what the heck is happening?" Agumon asked.

"I'd quite like to know that too," said Jinx. "Where did these new guys come from?"

"Lopmon, you know who they are," Barriss said.

Lopmon, perched on the railing, sighed. "Yeah, I do. But we really don't have the time for long explanations right now. Those can wait." She turned to look at the three newcomers. "Look," she said. "We'll swap stories soon, but suffice to say right now we're in trouble. Each of us here were captured by those lizard-men back there and brought here to be hunted down for sport. And my partner, Suzie, she was left behind in a terribly dangerous place. She… might be dead already but I have to find her."

"My own partner might be in danger too," pointed out Renamon. "Myotismon is still after her."

"And we'll find her too," Lopmon said. "But now, help us deal with the rest of these lizard-men, okay? They've been capturing and hunting countless sentient beings at this place for years now probably, and we need to put an end to them once and for all. There is a lot of blood on their hands that they need to answer for."

Tai and Agumon looked at each other, and then they both glanced at Renamon. All three sets of eyes narrowed at the same time and Agumon said, "Just point us in their direction."

Lopmon grinned. "With a Digimon that can digivolve with us it shouldn't be too hard. Where's their base?"

"I think I can see it up ahead!" Kalifa pointed. All sets of eyes swivelled and Tai couldn't help but gawp at the huge metal building-slash-ship that was floating in the air at the edge of the forest.

"We need a plan of attack," said O-Mer. "I don't think that we can just go charging in there. There will be more Trandoshans on board, and Garnac will have warned them about us on his comlink now. They'll be expecting us to fly up there and attack."

"I really don't think we'll need a plan of attack to be honest," Lopmon chuckled. "With Agumon and Tai here, those Trandoshans aren't going to stand much of a chance."

"No problem," grinned Tai. "We'll knock the whole thing out of the sky."

"Whoa," Lopmon said. "Do that and you could destroy our only way off this planet. Feel free to take care of the Lizard-men and destroy a lot of the place, but try not to destroy too much."

"Off this pl… Never mind. Silly question," Tai said. "You ready Agumon?"

"More than ready," Agumon nodded, and before anyone could stop him he had bounded straight off the side of the speeder and Tai held his little white Digivice high.

"What is he doing?" cried Kalifa.

"Watch and learn," chuckled Lopmon.

"**AGUMON WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO… WARGREYMON!"** came the shout that accompanied the explosion of light beneath them and moments later the armoured Mega-level burst into view, his shield gleaming on his back, his clawed gauntlets glinting and his eyes focused in determination. Even Lopmon was stunned. Last time they had met Tai they had not been able to do this trick and she was sure that in the show it was only after Myotismon himself digivolved that they had managed it. She had never seen a WarGreymon in the flesh before, but she could see easily why Takato, Kazu and Kenta practically worshipped the guy.

"Go get 'em, WarGreymon!" Tai shouted as the Mega Digimon motored ahead.

"Why didn't they biomerge?" muttered Barriss to Lopmon.

"They can't. Don't ask," was the reply.

* * *

The Trandoshans literally didn't know what hit them. A minute or so after they had got the call from Garnac the six remaining men had split into teams of two and were scouring the ship with rifles and blasters ready, waiting for their insurgent prey to make their appearance and get at the only way they could possibly get off the planet.

Two of them, Smug and Komodo, were walking along the empty platform where the speeders usually rested, scouring the horizon for the incoming speeder. When they saw it coming, they dashed towards the blaster cannons attached to the railings so they could open fire, but before Komodo could reach his a huge orange tornado ripped through the platform in front of him and threw him backwards. Before he could do anything else, WarGreymon seized him by the ankle and flung him casually over his shoulder, screaming as he plummeted over the edge and fell to the ground far below.

Smug balked when he saw what had happened to his comrade and tried to wheel his blaster around but WarGreymon charged almost before he had let go of Komodo and with a slash of his claws he ripped through the blaster like it was made of tissue paper and backhanded Smug across the face, breaking his nose and sending him plummeting over the edge as well.

Two more Trandoshans, Gilas and Krix, rounded the corner to see what the commotion was and stared at WarGreymon in disbelief. As the Mega turned to face them, both of them opened fire on him immediately, but WarGreymon merely looked down at the red bolts bouncing off his chest armour and smirked beneath his helmet.

He didn't even need to go all out against these guys and he took his shield off his back with one hand, slotting it together and flinging it like a giant discus. Neither of the Trandoshans had any time to react before it crashed into both of them and slammed them off their feet, crashing into another railing and tipping over the side in the case of Gilas or slumping unconscious to the ground in the case of Krix.

The final two Trandoshans, Gornog and Randomer (don't ask), ran up from up above near their main building and stared in disbelief as they saw WarGreymon retrieve his shield from next to Krix' unconscious body. Gornog thought quickly and pulled out a thermal detonator, lobbing it through the air at the Digimon. It clattered to a standstill at WarGreymon's feet and beeped wildly, before exploding in a blast that consumed WarGreymon's body _and_ killed Krix.

Gornog nodded in satisfaction, pleased with himself… only to blanch when WarGreymon stepped back into view apparently uninjured and with narrowed eyes.

"You killed your own comrade," he growled.

Both Trandoshans yelped and opened fire as WarGreymon threw himself towards them through the air, but it was futile. WarGreymon's claws slammed into both their guts like Wolverine from X-men and tossed them backwards, slamming them through the door of their own building where they crashed to a halt, gasping for breath and clutching their stomaches. And the moment WarGreymon looked in the room, he recoiled in horror. This was the Trandoshan's trophy room, filled with the mounted heads and stuffed bodies of dozens of beings and species, many of which were once probably humanoid. It was the most disgusting thing that WarGreymon had ever seen.

Growling, WarGreymon stepped to the middle of the room, where he towered over the two Trandoshans, before bringing his hands together and forming a large orange energy ball between them, widening the space between his arms until it grew to the size of a large boulder. He could easily make it much bigger if he wanted to, but he had been warned not to destroy too much and he might bring down the ship if he did that. But this would be more than enough.

"Your despicable poaching Empire ends today," WarGreymon growled before releasing the orb and leaping backwards to the doors, pulling his Brave Shield in front of him as the small Terra Force exploded outwards in a blast of pure power, vaporising both the Trandoshans and everything else in the entire room, including the walls, and the floor for a considerable distance, until the only thing left standing for a thirty foot radius was WarGreymon himself, who lowered his shield.

"Okay," said Kalifa from the speeder hovering above. "That was cool."

* * *

Things moved pretty quickly from there. The younglings were celebrating their newfound freedom after two months of constant hunting by those Trandoshan fiends, while Tai, Renamon and the others kept demanding to know what was going on. Fortunately WarGreymon had not destroyed the central computers of the fortress so Chewbacca and Barriss were able to quickly get in contact with Kashyyyk. To the infinite relief of Lopmon, Suzie turned out to be fine. It seemed she made a friend of a giant lizard called a Varactyl while down in the Shadowlands and said Varactyl had brought her back to the safety of the Wookiee city, despite having to battle several predators in the process. Suzie even had Barriss' lightsaber, which she had lost during her capture, and that too was a great relief to the Jedi.

Having established that, the group swapped stories. Lopmon told Tai and the others how the gate they had seen the Digi-destined pass through had opened once again to return to their own world as if nothing whatsoever had happened and continue with the war they had been fighting. Renamon's story was more interesting, as she told of how they had continued fighting Myotismon and how they had been given technology that might help them get Wizardmon back (though she did not say who by – she wasn't yet sure if Lily would want people to know she was raised by demons. It wasn't exactly normal) but had ended up been throwing into this universe instead.

"Quite interesting that we met up again," chuckled Lopmon. "The omniverse is a complex place indeed."

"Is there a way that we can get back?" Tai asked.

Lopmon grimaced. "Not that I know of I'm afraid. Our ride to here _and_ to your universe died. Or more accurately, we killed him since he was trying to devour our human partners."

"Ah," said Tai. "Wise."

They did a life-form scan of the moon below in search of Lily but there was nothing. Lopmon mentioned that it was impossible to detect a Digimon, but if Lily had been down there she should have been detected. Renamon felt anxious and debated to mention that Lily was not exactly a human either but she put it aside. When the result came up negative she was anxious as hell, but Lopmon told them how when they had been tossed into this universe they had all been split up so it was likely staying here would be futile. "We'll send a task-force of Jedi to scour the area when they come to arrest those Trandoshans," she assured them. "But I think its safe to say Lily is not down there. Still, we will find her. She's out there somewhere if she did get sucked into that portal"

Renamon and Tai could barely stop fretting but all they could do was wait until Suzie arrived in a spaceship with something called a Zabrak Bounty Hunter named Sugi and a few more Wookiees, to take them all away and up into space. Tai snickered as he did so, imagining Izzy's reaction when he found out that _he_ had gone into outer space with a bunch of aliens, and he was definitely filled with awe as they made the hyperspace journey.

* * *

When they arrived on the planet called Coruscant, Tai was suitably enthralled by the place when they landed at the Jedi Temple. As the ship came into the platform, Suzie looked up at Tai and the others and smiled. "I bet you never thought you'd end up in a place like this," she said.

"No, I most certainly did not," Tai said, staring out the window. "This place is… it's amazing."

"I've never seen anything like it," Agumon agreed. "Not even in the Digital World."

"And so many different aliens," Tai agreed. "I remember how Izzy reacted when he met you guys last time… what were the names of those two again?"

"Aayla the Twi'lek and Ahsoka the Togruta," chuckled Lopmon. "Yes, I remember that too. Imagine what he would be doing if he were here now."

"He would probably have passed out by now," laughed Tai. "I mean don't get me wrong, Izzy's more of a science and computer geek than some sci-fi nerd who drools over space TV all the time but this would be way too much even for him."

"Well then make sure you memorise everything for the trip home," chuckled Barriss. "And be prepared to meet yet more of these aliens. Though, technically, you're the alien here."

"True enough," Tai said as the ship settled down on the platform and the group stepped out into the open. Tai almost stopped in his tracks when he was greeted with the large number of beings in front of him – several members of the Jedi Council. But at the forefront was the rest of the group they had met a couple of weeks before. He could see the other two kids and their Digimon, as well as those guys who wielded the laser swords he found inexplicably awesome.

"Suzie, thank God you're safe!" Henry Wong cried as he ran forward. "I was so worried about you." He seized her in a hug and pulled her close and Tai was uncomfortably reminded of himself and Kari. Had Kari been another victim of the portal? Last he remembered he had seen Izzy holding her safe against a tree. He would owe Izzy a big thank you later on if she was still safe on the other side.

"Next time that you decide to go off on your own mission," Terriermon said. "Why don't you…" he paused, when he spotted Tai and Agumon at the top of the ramp. "Er… huh?" he blinked incoherently.

"Oh, it's you," said Lily's Renamon as she suddenly bounded over the heads of the other two and landed with a flip in front of the bunny. "The one I tried to eat that time."

"Not the best way of introducing yourself again I've ever heard," Terriermon muttered. "Someone want to fill me in here?"

"Momentai," Lopmon chuckled. "Excuse us for leaving them out of the report but you know how long-range transmissions can be easily picked up."

"What are they doing here?" Rika asked, slack-jawed for once. It was one thing to find yourself in the universe of famous TV characters you know but another thing to find them in the universe _you_ lived in, even if this wasn't Rika's real home universe.

"Hello to you too," Tai said dryly. "As to what we're doing here… don't ask. Let's just say we got swept away and into this place. You'd be surprised how much that kind of thing happens to me."

Rika's Renamon stepped forwards and drew level with Lily's Renamon. The two of them looked identical in every external detail but Rika's Renamon just chuckled and said, "And I thought I wouldn't have to get used to another version of me around the place."

"At least you're not thrashing me in a fight this time around," the other Renamon muttered, showing the difference in their demeanours even if they looked similar.

"True," Renamon chuckled. "Well, welcome to Coruscant, I suppose."

"Thank you," the other Renamon acknowledged. "It's weird to be here."

"You're telling me," Terriermon said, looking from one Renamon to the other. "Seriously if it wasn't for the mind-link I would not be able to tell which one of you was my own mate right now. Do you have any idea how weird that is."

"Oh hush up," both the Renamon replied at the same time, then looked at each other and snickered.

At that point the three Jedi came over from where they had been listening to what Barriss and the younglings had to say about where they'd been. "Well," said Anakin. "I don't know what's going on here but it seems we owe you guys some thanks. Apparently you helped in taking out those poachers that stole out partner and our fellow Jedi from us."

"Did what we could," Agumon acknowledged. "And I admit, I probably felt more satisfaction from taking them out than I probably should have."

"But he kicked butt as WarGreymon," Tai pointed out.

"WarGreymon, huh?" Henry raised an eyebrow. "You can go to that level now? Does that mean you defeated Myotismon yet?"

"You know about WarGreymon?" blinked Tai.

"Uh yeah," Henry said quickly. "Digimon are more well known in our universe after all – we have a card game and everything. WarGreymon's a famous Digimon to people who are interested in it. I could tell you what any of the partner Digimon I saw last time look like in their Mega forms."

"Oh," Tai said. "Fair enough. But no, we didn't beat Myotismon yet. We've taken out his whole army but he's still very much alive I'm afraid. And he might have followed us here. He's still after Lily and I think I saw her in the portal. Please, you have to help us find her."

Henry and Rika glanced at each other, the former biting his lip. Henry had been so concerned about distorting the timeline and changing events of the Adventure universe but it seemed that the sheer amount of damage they and the others had done at Myotismon's castle meant that it was inevitable that everything turn out differently.

"Lily?" Ahsoka asked. "You mean the strange girl with the odd powers? The one that everybody kept referring to as a star?"

"Er… yeah," Tai said, feebly, knowing Lily wouldn't appreciate it if he went around blabbing about what a star was. She didn't like people knowing that much – she claimed people always tried to exploit her abilities when they did, though she had been surprised when the Digi-destined hadn't done that.

"She's out there somewhere, I'm sure," Renamon said. "You've gotta help us find her."

"That won't necessarily be easy," Aayla shook her head. "It's a big Galaxy out there and Lily could be anywhere. But we'll certainly do our best. Our Digimon friends know full well what it's like to… misplace your partner."

"Especially me… after today," Lopmon shuddered.

Yoda himself stepped forward to assure Tai and the others. "Worry, do not," he said. "Find your lost friend, we will. Discrete, is she?"

After they had gotten over the fact that the little green creature was talking to them, Tai and Renamon both looked at each other. "No," they said at the same time.

"Then sure she will turn up in reports soon, I am," chuckled Yoda. "If true, your claims about her strange powers are, report her somebody will."

As Yoda assured them, the Noble Nine turned anxious gazes on each other, wondering between their shared link if something like this could potentially blow their cover, but they relaxed in the end, knowing that people couldn't really relate a strangely powered human to them, though they would help the offworlders try and find them. Henry was also not happy to hear about what happened in the others' world after they left.

"I feel like we interfered too much," he sighed. "What would have happened if we had just stayed away? It's not how things played out at all in the TV series."

"We should have just killed Myotismon then and there," Rika muttered. "I mean really, were we expecting things to play out the same anyway despite the fact that there was an added person and Digimon involved even before we butted in."

"There's no need to blame yourselves," Aayla said. "After all, you were only doing what you thought to be right and trying to help those Digi-destined as best you could. It might not have played out the way you were hoping but that's just life. There are many possible futures after all."

"Yes. But despite that it also means that we now have a powerful vampire Digimon running loose in this universe somewhere," said Renamon. "And after we only just dealt with the IceMyotismon that showed up on Mygeeto too. If that's not cause for alarm… what is?"

Nobody knew what to answer to that.

* * *

After that, Tai, Renamon and Agumon all felt a little out of place as Barriss Offee was promoted to Jedi Knight and she and the Wookiee Chewbacca officially joined the team of the others they had fought with before. It felt a bit like they were intruding on something personal and they still had almost no idea what half of this stuff meant.

"Oh, Lily," Tai muttered. "Where are you?"

* * *

"Jeez, when I find Tai, I don't know whether I'm going to hug him or strangle him," Lily muttered as she walked along through the rocky terrain.

"It's not his fault that we're here you know," Gatomon said as she walked after her. "It's not even his fault that we've been separated from them. Batface alone is only to blame for that."

"Yeah, I know," Lily grumbled. "It's just the principal of the thing really. Make him try harder not to leave me in the future."

Gatomon snorted. "You're a very demanding girlfriend, aren't you?"

"Zip it, cat," Lily growled lightly.

The two of them had been walking together for a couple of hours now, ever since they had found themselves in this strange, alien place. They had found nothing and no-one thus far, and the tension between the two of them was palpable. They were no longer enemies but the long antagonism between them from the past still left its mark and despite everything the two of them just felt awkward around one another now.

"I miss Kari," muttered Gatomon, almost under her breath, but Lily heard her. "I spent my whole life waiting and searching for her and then only a week after I finally meet her I've been snatched away from her again. Just like how Wizardmon was taken from me. How is that fair? Why have I had to have such a bad life while the other Digi-destined partners all got things pretty easy in comparison?"

Lily said nothing for a moment. But then she just said, "Same reason my life has been so horrible. Same reason we're here right now. It's Dorkula. It's _always_ Dorkula."

Gatomon scowled. "True," she said. "You know, I still can't remember all of my past. All I remember before I was in his service was the way that he sometimes beat me and my strong compulsion to try and find Kari and be with her. That vampire's tried to take everything from me, and now he's trying again."

"What do you expect from the melodramatic guy with fangs," Lily shook her head. "He wrecks anything that he can get his hands on that he doesn't treasure himself. He is the single biggest git of the whole Digital World."

"No argument there," Gatomon said.

Lily, feeling compelled to try and cheer Gatomon up due to the similar nature of their backstories, said, "Still, what the heck is with that outfit he wears? What is he trying to look like? I mean I've heard of some crazy cosplay stuff but really?"

Gatomon snorted. "Very true. Did you ever hear that rumour that went around to castle that Myotismon was actually secretly a girl?"

"Did I?" Lily grinned. "I started that thing."

"You did?" Gatomon laughed. "Well, I guess I really shouldn't be surprised considering who I'm talking to."

"Well just take a look at him, hard as that may be to do. The guy where's lipstick! How do we know that he doesn't wear mascara under that mask or nail polish under those gloves?"

Gatomon belted out laughing. "It's an easy mistake to make that he's either a girl or a coffin homosexual, isn't it," snickering at her own pun. "DemiDevimon got in a heap of trouble for it once. I think someone convinced him it was actually true and he called him 'Your Ladyship.'"

"Oh gosh, really? I never heard about that one!"

"You remember how DemiDevimon disappeared for a week and then wouldn't talk to anyone else for a month?"

"Oh yeah. Do I want to know what happened to him?"

"Depends on how much you hated him."

"Yeah, I can stomach it. Tell me."

And the two of them walked on, the awkwardness broken as they laughed and laughed at their former master's expense.

* * *

A couple of planets away, a figure clad in blue and grey armour with a slender helmet that only had a black visor to see through tucked under one arm and a jetpack strapped onto his back, stepped out of the thick-walled tent that he had been spending the last few weeks in. His thin mouth pressed together even further so it almost disappeared. Every time he stepped from his private quarters and saw the campsite that he and his soldiers had made on the snow-covered planet of Carlac, he seethed inside.

How had they been reduced to this! They were Mandalorian warriors of old. They should not have been crawling around in the backalleys of a world that nobody bothered much about like this waiting for something to happen. They should at the top of the metaphoric ladder on their home planet of Mandalore instead of that namby-pamby peace-loving Duchess Satine. It made Pre Vizsla, leader of the Death Watch, feel ill.

Curse that Count Dooku for withdrawing his support to the Death Watch. He reached up and traced the scar beneath his left eye, which had been given to him by Count Dooku himself. And Vizsla was _not_ one who would let an insult like this pass. He would take Mandalore back form the traitorous Satine Kryze and he would make Count Dooku pay for his actions against him.

Viszla was approached by another figure – a female member of the Death Watch called Bo-Katan, one of his most trusted of lieutenants. Bo-Katan took off her helmet to reveal her short red hair and said, "Any success?"

"No," Vizsla muttered. "Not as of yet. But one day we will find the hideout of Count Dooku and we shall make him pay sorely for the insult that he wrought upon us. He will regret ever trying to cross the Death Watch. He may be a powerful Sith, but against all of us, even he cannot prevail. All we need to do is find him."

"And what of Mandalore?" Bo-Katan asked. "How should we attempt to take back our birthright without his support."

"We will find a way," Vizsla snorted. "I believe that taking out Dooku is key. Perhaps if we were to find a way of replacing him with one who shall side with us, we may have the full might of the Separatists on our side once again. After that, retaking Mandalore will be far easier."

"The might of the Separatists is not what it once was thanks to the Republic. Especially that A-Team."

"Even they shall cower before us eventually. Retake Mandalore and there is nothing they can do to us without declaring war on the people as well."

"My, my," said a deep male voice from somewhere nearby. "Sounds to me like somebody is quite ambitious."

Vizsla's hand immediately went to his stolen lightsaber and Bo-Katan went for her blaster, several other nearby Mandalorians also tensing up. The voice chuckled and Vizsla followed its source to a tall being wrapped in a cloak and standing on the roof of his own hut.

"Who are you?" he snarled, activating the blade of his ancient black lightsaber. "What business do you have here?"

"I am glad that you used the word 'business,'" said the figure, whose face was obscured by the cloak although they could see blond hair and one piercing eye. "For that is what I am here to conduct. I find myself in need of some assistance in a particularly important endeavour and, loathe as I am to turn to humans for that help, I believe that you may be adequate enough."

"State your name," Vizsla growled.

The figure growled and swept his cloak away, to reveal his red mask and the fangs sticking out of his mouth. A couple of the lesser members of Death Watch recoiled at the sight of him, while he raised himself off the roof without any visible conscious effort and levitated down into the middle of the camp, turning round to face Vizsla again.

"I am Myotismon," he said. "And you?"

"That is none of your concern as of now," Vizsla said. "What are you?"

"Ah, now that is a long and complex explanation for a human," chuckled Myotismon. "Let me instead tell you why I am here. I am afraid I have been separated from my army," he explained, far too proud to admit that actually his whole army was dead or defected. "I am not sure where I am or why, but you see, I am searching for something, and I am sure that we can come to some kind of mutually beneficial arrangement."

"I'm listening," Pre Vizsla said after a moment's silence, but he did not lower his blade.

"I overheard that you wish for someone powerful dead and for you to take back your own homeland, correct?" Myotismon asked.

"Two powerful people dead if you refer to the Duchess Satine," Vizsla sneered. "Though she has no power beyond rank as Count Dooku does."

"Well," Myotismon chuckled. "I am looking for someone. You strike me as the kind who does not care about the lives of those beneath you and your men, if those slaves are anything to go by," he nodded towards a terrified group of woman in woollen coats huddled nearby. "Well, I am searching for a young girl that goes by the name of Lily. I do not know where she is currently, but she is… special. She had unusual abilities that, when older, will make her very powerful and I wish to utilise that power in my own world. Like you, I wish to become the ruler of my home and she is my key to doing so if I can make her into my servant."

"What kind of abilities does this child have?" Vizsla asked sceptically.

"Currently her powers include being able to summon fire and light to use in battle," Myotismon replied. "She is like no other being I have ever found before and I wish to make her mine. So, here is my deal. You help me find and capture her, and I will help you against your own enemies. Does that sound fair?"

"What exactly can you do that would make an alliance with you worthwhile?" Vizsla asked. "You cannot expect to agree to a deal that I cannot be sure will work for me."

Myotismon sneered and lashed out his arm, a sudden lash of a Crimson Lightning scything out of his hand and striking out behind him to slash through a giant droid that the Mandalorians had been using as target practice beforehand and cleave through the side of a tent. Then Myotismon rose into the air and opened his cloak to unleash a storm of bats from nowhere that fell upon the Mandalorians, who cried out and began shooting wildly, to no effect. Vizsla swung around wildly, trying to find Myotismon in the thick cloud of bats, only for a hand to come to rest on his shoulder from behind. He turned to see a smirking Myotismon as the swarm of bats all flapped back into the folds of his cloak.

"Do we have a deal?"

Vizsla smirked back and chuckled. "Last time I made a deal with someone like you, they betrayed me."

"I require your help as much as you need mine," Myotismon pointed out.

"Fair enough," Vizsla said. "You have a deal." And he turned around, so the two of them shook on it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lily and Gatomon were still laughing and joking at their former vampiric master's expense. The situation was still a serious one, but this was the one tragic thing in their pasts that they shared and by making light of it, they could keep both their spirits up.

"You know, I'm sure I once saw Myotismon take a nail file and use it on his fangs to try and keep them sharp," Gatomon grinned.

Lily spluttered. "What, seriously? Are you freaking kidding me?"

"No word of a lie," Gatomon grinned. "It was all I could do not to burst out laughing on the spot."

"I would have just laughed."

"That's because you are stupidly reckless and unendingly defiant."

"Well… yes…" Lily grinned. Then she looked up and said, "You know I think that we're coming out of the rocks. Maybe we can find some kind of town, or at least a river which should lead us to a…"

"Halt!" piped up a reedy voice off to the side and Lily turned around to see what looked like about twelve tall thin… robots… walking towards her. Though she was instantly on the alert because each one of them carried some kind of large gun and their expressionless faces were fixed upon her.

"State your name," said one of the robots. "And what you're doing all the way out here."

"Uh… my name is none of your business, Tin-head," Lily said. Gatomon facepalmed, muttering something about Lily and her stupidity in the face of enemies.

"Hey, you can't talk to me like that," the robot said. "Right, guys?"

"Roger, roger," chorused the others at several intervals.

"I am a droid of the Separatist army," said the robot. "And you are coming with us. You will be interrogated by our superiors and we'll find out everything we need. Seize her."

Several of the droids raised their blasters and pointed them straight at Lily's torso while several others stepped forwards, reaching for her arms to take her into custody. But Lily's eyes just narrowed and Gatomon sighed. "I know what's coming next," she muttered.

Without hesitation, Lily flung a pair of fireballs out of her hands at the two robots approaching her and knocked their heads clean off with them. "What the…!" cried the lead robot before Lily grabbed him and used him as a shield when the others began shooting, hitting their own leader in the back as Lily flung another fireball around him to impact across another.

Gatomon leapt into the action moments later and sprang upwards to swipe the head off another with a clean slash of her claws and bound off his headless shoulders, wrapping her tail around another and swinging around him to slash into two more. Lily shoved her shield away and formed a small sphere of light in her hands that shot out like some kind of laser and carved through a further two.

The battle was brief and violent, but in the end the dim-witted droids were no match for the star or the Digimon and the two ended up standing together over a pile of disembodied metallic limbs.

"Well, that was easy," Lily said.

"Yeah, but there might be more around here," Gatomon nodded. "We should probably keep hidden as best we can?"

"But we need to find Tai and Renamon and the others," Lily protested.

"We need to find ourselves first, I think," Gatomon grimaced

And, as the two of them began to head on, keeping close to the rocks, in the far distance Clone Commander Stone lowered his macrobinoculars. He was several miles away and yet he had seen everything clear as day.

"Set up the com channel," he said to his other clones. "We've got a report to make."

* * *

The news spread extremely quickly. Renamon, Tai and Agumon were still on Coruscant with the main team and the only thing that they could really do to occupy themselves in the relentless wait for news of Lily was listen to the stories of the others about their own adventures or learn more about the dimension they'd landed themselves in. Normally Tai would be rushing around trying to find Lily with everything he had at this point, as would Renamon, but they knew that that would be next to useless in this situation. There was little chance that Lily was even on this planet and they couldn't scour an entire planet for her without help, let alone and entire Galaxy.

Didn't stop them from worrying though, and Tai was torturing himself mentally with images of Lily appearing in the vacuum of space rather than an atmosphere. But he didn't mention this to Renamon. She probably had no idea what "outer space" even meant and there was no need to inform her at this point.

"I still don't understand why you can do that whole thing with the merging bodies with your human," Renamon said, pointing accusatorially at the other Renamon. "Don't you know how envious I am of you? Why are you so much better than me?"

"It is not a competition," Rika's Renamon chuckled. "But I have been a warrior all my life and I have spent all that life trying to make myself the best I can be."

"Yeah, well it's unfair. I saw you grow wings too last time. Why can't I do that?"

"Because you don't have access to a human with Modify cards or a Digivice that can use them?" Rika's Renamon stated.

"It was a rhetorical question," muttered Renamon.

Suddenly the door shot open. "Guys!" Ahsoka appeared at the door. "Call from Anakin. He was with the Chancellor just now when a call came in from Ord Biniir. Apparently the clones there spotted a young girl using some kind of unusual fire powers against a small unit of droids out there."

Tai was on his feet in an instant. "That's her! That can only be Lily! We have to go there now!"

"And we will," Ahsoka nodded. "Anakin's already fitting out the _Twilight_ for departure. We need to get there before the Chancellor launches a full investigation, because apparently there was some kind of white cat with her."

"Gatomon," Agumon said.

"Sounds like it," Aayla said. "But if there's a Digimon involved then it's important this mission be covert so it doesn't draw any further attention than necessary."

"Yeah, the Chancellor believes the clone was seeing things at the moment, but if this Lily appears again then he might not take it so lightly," Ahsoka nodded.

"Well then," said Terriermon. "Let's roll out!"

"Stop quoting from Transformers," Lopmon chided him as they did just that.

"But it's fun," Terriermon protested.

* * *

"Do you know how much longer this will take?" Myotismon growled. "I grow impatient of this."

"It's a big Galaxy out there, Myotismon," Vizsla turned to his new ally. "You expect us to just go out to the nearest planet and find your precious little girl waving a signal flare at us? There are hundreds of planets out there that she could have landed on. If what you tell me is true and that you were portalled in from another universe, hard as that may be to stomach, then pray she landed on a planet with a breathable atmosphere. Or that she landed in an atmosphere at all."

Myotismon grunted. "Very well. I shall wait. But what measures are you taking to find her?"

"The only ones we can," Vizsla said. "We're scanning the holonet for any sign of a news article about a girl that you described. If one comes up, we'll find it. If she's anything like you say, I doubt that she will stay under for long. But don't forget your end of the bargain must be kept up too. If we are forced to make a move on our own goals before we find your girl, you will help us, will you not?"

"Naturally," Myotismon sneered. "I would be more than happy to."

Vizsla regarded him with slight suspicion for a moment but before he could decide whether to comment or not a member of the Death Watch ran up. "Governor Vizsla," he cried. "I think I may have found something. About the girl."

"On the holonet?" Vizsla asked, surprised it had been so quick.

"No, on our listening station," he replied. The Death Watch were resourceful enough to construct a listening station to intercept some Republic and Separatist long-range transmissions, but only if one end of the call was in the region of space that they were currently in. (It was listeners like this which is why the Digimon never showed themselves in anything other than a localised call that couldn't be picked up so easily anymore) "Coming from Ord Biniir, sir. Some clone telling the Chancellor that he saw a girl with the powers described and some kind of strange cat taking out a group of droids."

"Cat?" Myotismon said, with a smirk. "Gatomon. I can reclaim both of my old pets in one go. Where is this place?"

"It's only at the other end of this system," Vizsla said. "I wouldn't have expected to hear news from that angle, but it looks like you're in luck, Myotismon. We set out for Ord Biniir immediately."

Myotismon sneered as Vizsla walked away. "I'm coming for you, my pet. You cannot hope to escape from me forever."

* * *

It only took the group from Coruscant a couple of hours to reach Ord Biniir in the little spice freighter that Anakin had renovated, known as the _Twilight_. The ship was still incredibly battered and not exactly in its best condition after it had practically crash-landed on Naboo a couple of weeks ago, but Anakin had spent every spare minute he had rebuilding it so it worked to take them on a quick mission, which is what they were intending for this mission to be. It was a simple search and rescue – which meant they had left the clones behind.

Despite her exertions on Wasskah, Barriss had insisted that she come along on this mission even though she'd only been promoted to Jedi Knight a few hours ago. Lopmon and Suzie, on the other hand, had decided to sit this one out. Suzie had had quite a traumatic experience on Kashyyyk from being stranded in the Shadowlands surrounded by predators and she was lucky to have survived, meaning she needed some rest and naturally Lopmon was not going to leave her partner behind. The Wookiee Chewbacca had also insisted on staying behind, determined to be useful to his new life-debt partner and look after her human.

So that meant that four Jedi, three humans with a Digimon partner and four Digimon were making this particular trip.

"And there it is," said Anakin as they pulled out of hyperspace. "Apparently this is the planet the your friend Lily is on."

"Great, but how are we supposed to search an entire planet?" Tai asked. "She could be anywhere down there."

"Not quite," Anakin grinned. "I memorised the co-ordinates that Commander Stone gave in his report regarding the girl, so I know exactly where he was standing when he spotted her. It's only been a couple of hours – it's unlikely she's gotten far in that time unless she's gotten some kind of transportation. And she might not know how to use that here. I'm going in. Then we can scan for life-forms and see if we come up with anything."

Renamon and Tai glanced at each other again, wondering a second time if Lily would even show up as a life-form. She wasn't a Digimon but they really didn't know anything about the composition of stars. If they were from the Digital World though…

The ship plunged through the atmosphere and Anakin directly Ahsoka into flicking through several of the controls and surveying the monitors. The landscape between them was a mixture of plains and mountains with the occasion city and quite a few large structures that were shipping constructs – this planet was a Republic base for building many of the spacecraft that they needed for the war and the Separatists had managed to invade here too, though fortunately there was no blockade to bypass this time.

Tai and Renamon waited in anxious silence, watching the Jedi uncomprehendingly go about whatever it was that they were trying to do. Aayla occasionally leaned in to help fiddle with the controls, and at one point even Terriermon reached out and pulled a lever. Tai couldn't help feel slightly envious of this bunch. His own adventure with Digimon had been one confusing hurdle after another but these guys seemed to take it all in their stride. How long had they been doing this stuff?

"Well, we're close to the replace that the report came from," said Anakin. "And the life-form scanners are picking up a few things down there. Let's see… ah… this looks promising," he said, indicating a small monitor screen in front of him.

"One life-form… apparently humanoid," nodded Ahsoka. "Out in the middle of the of the rocks there." She frowned and added. "But also several other humanoid life-forms forming a ring around it and closing in."

"Closing in?" Tai asked, started. "What do you mean, closing in?"

"As in, all getting closer," Ahsoka pointed to the screen in front of her to show just that. "And at quite a fast pace too."

"Clones?" Rika asked.

"Doubtful," said Anakin. "What would the clones be doing out there trying to find this girl when the Chancellor gave them orders not to leave their posts? It might be something else at work here, but the scanners only detect life-forms with a humanoid structure. It can't tell us who or what those life-forms are."

"Then if we go down there we could be walking into a trap," said Terriermon.

"Perhaps," Renamon smirked. "Or, we could be setting one of our own. Other Renamon, you want to save your partner, right?"

"Of course," bristled Lily's Renamon.

"Then come with me," Rika's Renamon said, heading towards the door of the cockpit. "I have an idea. You guys land nearby and try and find out what's doing the closing in. We Renamon will go in and see if its Lily they're trying to trap. If it is, then we can warn her. If it isn't we can try elsewhere and we won't have been seen. You ready to work as a team again with the perception filter?"

"Oh, that was so much fun last time," chuckled Lily's Renamon. "Alright," she said. "Let's go."

"If it is Lily," said Tai. "Tell her I'm on my way."

"You know that her response will be, 'Took him long enough,' right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Tai snorted. "Course it will."

"Fly us over the life-form in the middle," said Renamon to Anakin, who nodded and did just that.

"How're we getting down there?" asked Lily's Renamon. Rika's Renamon smirked as Ahsoka hit the button to open the hatch at the back of the ship, letting huge winds whoosh in from the outside. Lily's Renamon's eyes widened. "No," she said. "NonononononAAAARGH!" she cried as the other Renamon tackled her out of the ship and they both plummeted towards the ground still about half a mile below, raising her perception filter as she did so to screen them from view and clamping a paw over her fellow Renamon's mouth to silence her yells.

The two fell in free-fall for a while before Hyperwings sprouted from Renamon's back courtesy of a Modify Card from above and she arrested her fall, holding the other Renamon in her arms tightly as they glided down quickly, but a lot less fast.

"Don't… do that… again," objected Lily's Renamon.

Rika's Renamon chuckled and then glanced down below at what looked like some kind of old shipping facility that had long been abandoned. "That's the place where the life-form is," she said. "Let's get in that building and see if it's your partner."

* * *

"Well, there's nothing interesting here as far as I can see," Lily said, kicking a piece of metal as it sailed across the empty space that probably used to be a hangar. "Shame really. Reminds me of the factory on File Island that the others told me they went into, except that there's no Andromon and nothing is actually doing anything in this one."

"I'm getting hungry," Gatomon said. "What I wouldn't give for some kind of fish at this point."

"Why did we even come in here?" Lily sighed. "The place looked like a wreck from the outside too. And we're inside now and lo and behold, it's still a wreck. So much for find some kind of cafeteria."

"Well, on the bright side," Gatomon said. "There's none of those stupid robot things here."

"Amen to that," Lily agreed.

And another voice made them both jump as it said, "You still haven't lost that brash attitude I see. Even if you have mellowed it out a bit." They both whirled around to see Renamon standing a few metres away from them.

"Renamon!" Lily cried in relief and joy, dashing over and seizing the yellow fox in a huge hug. "Oh thank Yggdrasil I was worried that I'd lost you this time."

"Um… Lily, I'm over here," said her Renamon, from behind her.

"Huh?" Lily blinked, stepping back and looking from one Renamon to the other in bemusement. "What…?"

"I would say, 'long time, no see,'" said the Renamon she'd just hugged. "But it was only a couple of weeks… so…"

"What?" Lily said, her voice a bit strangled.

"I'm your partner," the other Renamon said. "That's the Renamon who helped us out in Myotismon's castle before. Seriously, don't ask me how, but we've been pulled into the dimension that they were in before they landed in our own."

Lily stared in bewilderment for a bit longer before she ran over to her own Renamon and hugged her instead. Rika's Renamon chuckled, and looked to Gatomon. "Good to hear that you decided to switch sides," she said.

Gatomon grimaced. "I wish it hadn't come at such a high cost."

"I'm sorry," said Renamon. "But don't lose hope for your friend. I'm sure you can find a way to bring him back."

"By the way," Lily's Renamon said. "Tai's not far away. He says he's coming."

"Took him long enough," Lily muttered.

"I knew you'd say that," Renamon grinned, forming a celebratory fist. The other Renamon rolled her eyes.

"So, what the heck are you doing here?" Lily asked, turning to the other Renamon. "And where's your partner?"

"We're here to find you, of course. And my partner is with Tai and Agumon right now, because this isn't just a happy reunion. Something's currently closing in on your location from all sides and its not too hard to guess that they must be after you for some reason."

"Closing in?" Lily's eyes widened. "Oh, come on! Why is it _always_ me that people try and ensnare?"  
"Search me," Renamon said. "They must be a bit wrong in the head. Ow! What? You know I was joking," she pouted, rubbing her swatted arm.

"What do we do?" Gatomon asked.

"First we find out who they are. Terriermon," she said aloud, for the benefit of those who couldn't hear her telepathic talk. "Can you see what's going on yet?"

"What is she doing?" Gatomon asked.

"Talking to her mate," Renamon said. "Renamon gain a telepathic link with their mates when they… you know… become mates."

"Ah," said Gatomon.

* * *

_We've landed near a mountain not far away,_ Terriermon said as he winged his way through the rocks up in the higher reaches. _Outside the circle of incoming life-forms but as close as we dared. And they're getting closer to you all the time._

_Any sign of who our potential enemy is?_ Asked Renamon.

_Give me two ticks,_ Terriermon replied, flapping his wings to land behind a rock a short distance from the abandoned facility and slowly, carefully, edged around it to peer across at the other side.

He quickly pulled back when he saw the men covered in blue and gray armour with the jetpacks and their distinctive helmets, which looked like those of the clones, but not. _Uh-oh,_ he said. _I think you know who they were, don't you, Rena._

_Uh-huh,_ Renamon said dryly. _Death Watch. Brilliant._

_What are the Death Watch doing here? _Anakin said, with a slight growl. _They can't have been hiding out on this planet – we would have noticed them if they had, surely._

_I cannot say why they're here, but it's clear that they're after Lily for some reason,_ Aayla added. _Perhaps they intercepted the transmission and are trying to capture her to use for themselves. Or perhaps this is a coincidence and they are looking for someone else._

_I doubt it,_ Renamon said. _Aren't the Death Watch obsessed with getting Mandalore back? Why would they be out here trying to trap a single individual? Do they think this is Satine's summer home or something?_

_No, they're here for Lily. There can be no doubt,_ Henry said. _So… what do we do?_

Terriermon, from behind his rock, smirked. _They think they're setting a trap for Lily? Well, why don't we set a trap for them? This is our chance to take out one of the Galaxy's biggest solo threats as well as save Lily. And they don't know we're here. They must be using life-form scanners to close on Lily like we are, but they won't pick up Gatomon or either of the Renamon. So, if they think Lily's alone, they'll be in for a surprise._

_Alright then,_ there was a feeling of determination spreading through the group at Anakin's words. _Let's do this. Step one, we need to find their ships and take them out so they cannot escape._

_That sounds like a job for WarGreymon and I,_ Terriermon snickered.

_Step two, _Anakin went on. _We need to find the leader, Pre Vizsla, if he is here and make sure to take him down. He's a good fighter though, and he has a lightsaber._

_Leave him to us,_ Renamon said. _We'll take him_.

_And we Jedi will join you as soon as possible,_ Aayla said.

_Step three, we need to make sure that no Death Watch member who spots a Digimon escapes. Terriermon, once you and this new guy knock out the transports, that will be your job. Nobody gets away, got it? Knock 'em out if you have to but as usual we can have no word of this spreading out._

_Gotcha,_ Terriermon said. _Roll out._

* * *

_Seriously, stop saying that,_ Renamon chuckled. Then, she turned to Lily and the others and said, "It seems that word of your attack on the droids before has spread further than we thought. The people trying to surround us now are a terrorist organisation called the Death Watch. They must have somehow found out about you and come looking for you, though it's odd that they got here so quickly – before even we did."

"Great, so another party that's coming after me," Lily ground her teeth. "Seriously, it's like some thoroughly evil writer is co-ordinating my life to be as horribly bad as possible. I tell you if that was true and I ever somehow got to meet this person, I would pound them into the ground."

"What do we do if we're totally surrounded?" Gatomon asked.

Renamon smirked. "They think this is a trap? We'll show them the real trap here."

* * *

A few minutes later, and several members of the Death Watch, having successfully infiltrated the building, crept into the hangar with blasters raised. It was a very big room, but it was mostly empty. Except for the one thing that all eyes focused on, a young girl crouched in the middle of the floor, and apparently crying into her hands.

"Is that her?" muttered one of them.

"Must be," said another.

They held their position for a while, until more Death Watch members stole into the room from just about every direction, including the leader, Pre Vizsla himself, who smirked at the sight of the scared looking girl and strode purposefully towards her. The Death Watch crowded around, leaping off banisters and hovering down on their jetpacks or running in from the sides to surround the girl in a perimeter. The girl looked up as they did, apparently only just becoming aware of their presence, her face smeared with dirt and tears.

"Who… who are you?" she sniffled, shrinking nervously away from the blasters pointed at her as Vizsla strode forwards.

"Are the girl who can throw fire?" Vizsla asked.

"Y-yeah," Lily nodded. "I am. Who are you? Are you here to rescue me?"

"Rescue you?" Vizsla smirked. "Oh, far from it, girlie." He raised his own blaster and said, "Make one move and I will put a hole in the middle of your forehead."

"No, please!" Lily shrank back.

"Bind her!" Vizsla instructed and several Death Watch members ran forward. Lily's hands suddenly ignited with fire, causing them to hesitate for a moment, but Lily clumsily flung them so they were easy to dodge and their confidence returned. Lily flailed as two of them grabbed her arms and pulled them roughly behind her and another clicked a pair of binders around her wrists, fastening them behind her back.

"No…" Lily struggled furiously and tried to pull her wrists apart, but the bindings held firm.

"Hah," Vizsla said, holstering his pistol, as many of the other Death Watch members lowered their own weapons and laughed derisively. "That was incredibly easy…" he said. "Why maybe it wasn't such a good idea to…" he stopped, frowned and said, "Too easy. That was too easy."

"Uh yeah," Lily suddenly grinned. "You were a bit slow on that, weren't you?"

Renamon, Rika's Renamon, suddenly phased into view right next to Vizsla and slammed her fist into the side of his face with tremendous force, sending the Death Watch leader flying backwards to crash into two of his own men. Renamon dashed forwards and swiped another terrorist of his feet with a hammer-blow to the nose as she passed and hurled herself onto two more, slamming her hands into their chests and knocking them to the ground and flipping over their bodies to spin her legs through the air and crash her foot into another one.

By that point many of the Death Watch had recovered from their shock enough to pull out their blasters and start shooting at her, running across the room to try and get a better angle, but Renamon had been shot at many times before and was adept at dodging. That said, the Mandalorians were much more accurate than the droids that were normally doing the shooting, so she was hard pressed to dodge some of them as she sprang away.

She bounded across the ground on all fours and threw herself into a sliding tackle that swept the legs out from under two more and took her to the base of a metal beam that supported a walkway up above that she threw herself behind and scampered up.

"Get it!" Vizsla screamed as he staggered to his feet and clutched his face. "Kill it, you fools."

"Ahem," said a voice behind him, and he turned to see Gatomon standing on a pile of crates right before she launched a flying lightning paw into his face that broke his nose and sent him crashing backwards once again. Gatomon ran over his fallen body and dashed through the legs of another, wrapping her tail around his ankles and hauling them together to throw him off balance and then dashing up to knock the helmet off another and slam him in the chin with her fist.

Renamon, meanwhile had clambered up behind a rusted walkway and fixed her back to the wall, placing her legs against the walkway and heaving with a grunt of exertion. Several of the walkways damaged supports groaned and buckled until the entire thing overbalanced and it came crashing down. Several of the Death Watch members that were not quick enough were flattened beneath it and those that were quick enough were battered by a barrage of diamonds from above, before Renamon landed on the fallen walkway and sprang into battle again.

Meanwhile, the Death Watch members that were holding Lily had decided that their priority was to get their hostage out of the room before she could be rescued, naturally assuming that she was helpless in the cuffs they had locked her in. They were naturally very surprised when Lily's hands suddenly shot up and hit them in the faces with a pair of fireballs that tossed them backwards.

"Sorry guys!" Lily chuckled, twirling the binders around one finger. "But considering I got chained up a lot as a kid, lock-picking became a very useful skill for me."

Another Death Watch member seemed to notice and tried to turn around, but a third fireball suddenly hit him right in the jetpack, which exploded and took out him and two other members close by.

"Oh crap!" Lily cried. "I didn't expect that to happen!"

Many other Death Watch members turned and surged towards her, only for a deflector shield to spring out of nowhere and repel them with hard thumps that knocked them backwards. Lily smirked up at her own partner, Taomon, who was lowering herself from the ceiling with the symbol for the shield held in her paw.

Taomon looked across to where Renamon was currently slamming a pair of other Death Watch members across the room with a Power Paw.

"I think I need to start training more," she said. "I have _got_ to become as badass as that in my Rookie form one day."

"Well, you're pretty badass right now," Lily said with a smirk, watching casually as a few more Death Watch members launched the missiles from the top of their jetpacks at the shield in an attempt to bust through it, only to be surprised when it held firm. Taomon frowned and called, **"THOUSAND SPELLS!" **watching as a huge swarm of papers lashed out of her sleeves and passed through the shield easily to expand and wrap around the Death Watch members in question to practically envelop them and cause them to fall to the ground, struggling helplessly.

"Heh. Maybe I am," Taomon chuckled.

* * *

A pair of Death Watch members that had been left behind to guard one of the ships that the Death Watch had used to fly in and concealed in the mountains close to the abandoned facility were simply standing and staring out towards the horizon, listening out for any sign of an incoming enemy. As usual there was none, but they were hardly about to slacken off. If something happened, Vizsla might kill them. He had been known to do that.

"Excuse me, can you give me some directions?" asked a voice above them and they both looked up sharply to see the Ultimate-level Rapidmon hovering overhead, his eyes showing a smirk that his face armour otherwise hit. Before the Death Watch members could recuperate, several missiles sprang out from Rapidmon's back and struck the ship right in the fuel tank, causing a huge explosion that engulfed both of the men and launched Rapidmon into the air from force alone.

Rapidmon knew that the other ships would have noticed an explosion like that, so he now had to work quickly to make sure that none of them got away. Fortunately, working quickly was something he did very well indeed and he shot away faster than a bullet.

He launched a Rapid Fire at another ship almost before he had seen it and was already some distance ahead by the time his missiles blew up the ship and was launching a second Rapid Fire at another one, the projectiles streaking down through the air like smoking cannonballs. In a spurt of speed, Rapidmon overtook his own missiles and kicked a member of the Death Watch that was perched on a ledge high above the ship and would not have been hit in the explosion off the ledge and onto the top of the ship before he shot away and the missiles impacted to take out all the localised targets.

On the other side of the factory, several of the other members of the Death Watch were indeed noticing the large mushroom-clouds of smoke that were accompanying each explosion and hurried to defensive positions, but it was no use. As a few of them ran up the ramp of the ship that they were guarding, they came face to face with a sudden blinding light inside and were tossed back out as the WarGreymon that had just formed there slammed them back down the ramp and whipped himself into a whirlwind that took out the ship from inside and shredded the thing like paper.

"Sorry guys," WarGreymon stepped towards the Mandalorians before him. "But I've been ordered to make sure that none of you get away." And he lashed out with his claws to slay the various Death Watch members on the spot. This was the first time WarGreymon had ever taken the life of a human and he hoped that he would not have to get used to it.

But then he threw himself into the air and curved around, at a much slower pace to Rapidmon, but a fast tilt nonetheless. As he came upon two more ships crowded into the same area he spun around and cried **"TERRA FORCE!" **hefting the ridiculously large energy sphere that formed between his hands over his head and hurling it downwards at the ships, obliterating them both instantaneously as well as everyone around it. He swept over the flames from the devastating attack and happened across another ship not that far away.

Spying a large boulder on the mountainside above the ship he surged towards said boulder and rammed it with his claws as he passed, splintering it into several smaller but still huge pieces and watching as they cascaded downwards, picking up more speed and extra boulders on the downhill track under they slammed into the ship in a full-blown landslide and buried it underneath their weight, possible completely flattening it.

Rapidmon had just dispatched yet another ship not far away and raced around, checking for any signs of anymore, when he spotted another one rising into the air on the other side of the factory. Evidently the people in this one had decided that it was not worth staying here when all the other ships were being blown up and was trying to make a getaway. He narrowed his eyes and took aim at it right across the other side just at the moment that WarGreymon also saw it and lanced upwards, curving in from below and raising his claws to strike.

"**GREAT TORNADO!"** he roared as he whipped himself into another frenzy once more.

"**TRI BEAM!"** Rapidmon added, the green light exploding from the triangle formed by his body.

WarGreymon's attack connected first and slammed into the underside of the ship moments before Rapidmon's attacked and burned through the front of the cockpit. The two attacks combined ripped the ship to _shreds,_ the biggest of which was smaller than WarGreymon's shield, which was small comparing the size of the ship they had been destroying.

Satisfied with their work, Rapidmon and WarGreymon met up over the factory.

"You're pretty damn awesome, you know," Rapidmon said.

"Thanks," WarGreymon said. "I haven't had many chances to use this form yet but I think that I fully have a measure of its capabilities now."

"Well it's epic," Rapidmon chuckled.

"You're not so bad yourself," WarGreymon laughed. "I definitely couldn't match your speed."

"We all have our own pros and cons," Rapidmon stated. "So, you up for waiting around to see if that factory spits out anyone who tries to escape? You don't have to kill them if they do – just knock them out."

WarGreymon nodded and the two waited and watched, Rapidmon watching what was going on inside through Renamon's eyes and relating it to his companion.

* * *

As to what was happening inside, things were getting a little more difficult for the fighters. The Death Watch were starting to get a handle on what they were doing and remembering their training. Several of them had jetpacked up into the air and were hovering to fire on the enemies from above, while some others had landed on other walkways to do the same thing.

Renamon was drawing the most fire, as she had established herself as the forefront of the attack, as Taomon was still defending her partner. The fox sprang aside as a shot whooshed passed her side and grimaced when another clipped the tip of her tail, but she spun around to deliver a strong Power Paw to the support beam of another walkway, which caved in under the blow and tipped several Death Watch members off the top. But as more shots lanced towards the fox from various angles she was forced to dive behind a pile of crates for cover.

Gatomon wasn't much better off. The cat was light on her feet but she was dashing from side to side now as those hovering above were keeping track of her and firing from above, which was a much better vantage point to hit a small target. She felt like some kind of pinball dodging from side to side as the ground was blotted around her by blaster marks. She flung herself into a flip as several shots hit the ground where she had been and swung around to face an unhelmeted Death Watch member lowering a pistol at her.

"Say bye, pussy cat," he sneered.

Instead, Gatomon said, **"CAT'S EYE HYPNOTISM!" **and her eyes flashed red.

The Death Watch member faltered bemused, but then turned around and shot three members of his cohorts right out of the air and then whirled about to fire his missile straight into the ranks of the others. Cries of shock and yells of alarm followed as the bodies crashed to the ground and people dived out of the way, giving Renamon the reprieve she needed to slam through the pile of crates and send them flying in all directions and knock many more down and dash off to continue the fight.

Taomon grimaced, wondering if she should be doing now, but right now protecting Lily was the top priority. This wasn't like some regular Digimon battle. Any stray shot right now could kill Lily so she was doing her best to protect her partner by just keeping the shield up.

"Enough!" yelled Pre Vizsla as he suddenly darted forwards with his black lightsaber drawn and slashed the hypnotised member down the middle, killing him instantly and pushing his body aside as he slashed at Gatomon, who sprung aside and rebounded off a pillar just before Vizsla slashed through that too. Vizsla pursued the small Digimon across the room and Taomon sought to act quickly but before she could lift her brush or summon a symbol Vizsla successfully managed to kick Gatomon into a wall. She was strong, but her light build made her susceptible to attacks even from a human in that manner.

Gatomon's eyes widened as Vizsla slashed down towards her…

…and was as surprised as Vizsla when a woman with blue skin and head-tails landed right in front of her and blocked the strike with a blue lightsaber.

"Afternoon, Governor," Aayla said, sweeping his lightsaber aside and kicking him in the chest. She turned to smile at Gatomon and said, "I see that you took my advice from last time on board, Gatomon."

"You?" blinked Gatomon. "But… where…"

"Jedi!" spat Vizsla. "You will not get away from this place."

"You sure?" Aayla asked with a smile, right as there was a sudden explosion of lightsaber fighting around the room. Anakin slammed his way through a door to Vizsla's left and whirled into a spinning leap and a downward slash that Vizsla only just managed to block. Ahsoka bounded down from a walkway to land heavily on the shoulders of another member and re-direct a missile heading right for Renamon with the Force, while Barriss landed on top of Taomon's shield and sprang off it to slash through two blasters before they could be fired at her and take a spinning kick to the chests of their owners.

"It's the A-Team!" cried one of the Death Watch.

"What do we do?" cried another.

"They've never lost a battle when they fight together!" yelled a third.

Bo-Katan growled beneath her helmet and cried, "Cowards! Attack them! We are the Death Watch! We will not be cowed by some puny Jedi! Fire!" She sprang into the air and activated her jetpack bearing down towards Aayla and activating the flamethrower built into her wrist. Several other members of the Death Watch began to get the idea an unleashed their own flamethrowers, the tongues of fire shooting out to was towards their opponents.

Renamon just smirked and yelled, "Thanks for the upgrade, Rika. **AQUA BLASTER!"** And she brought her hands together and unleashed a torrent of water, Shellmon's attack, to counter the flames, putting them out in a cloud of steam that erupted outwards and knocking over several terrorists in the process. Through the steam, several of them heard a cry of, **"RENAMON DIGIVOLVE TO… KYUBIMON! DRAGON WHEEL!" **before another huge bit of flame, this time blue and in the shape of a dragon burst out and washed over many of those that were still hovering in the air.

Aayla, meanwhile, sprang away from Bo-Katan's blast and swung from a pipe on the underside of a walkway to catapult straight over the Mandalorian woman and kick at her from above, but she spun around and blocked with a swift hand motion, causing the two women to landed facing each other in a battle stance. Aayla smiled grimly and sheathed her lightsaber, while Bo-Katan holstered her blaster.

No words were said between them. It was an unspoken challenge, but they both leapt forwards and began a flurry of ducking, punching and kicking at one another as they test out their own hand-to-hand combat skills against each other.

With the addition of the Jedi and the digivolution of Renamon, things swiftly became more of a rout than a battle. The Death Watch didn't seem to know which way to turn. In one place there would be Kyubimon lobbing fireballs at them with their tails, forcing many of them members back as they tried to fire back only to get hit by another fireball before they could pull a trigger.

In another place, Ahsoka was pirouetting around and knocking blasters out of hands with her feet and easily deflecting shots with her spinning blade. She leapt over another member and slashed through his jetpack, Force-pushing him backwards into a group of three more so they were all taken out when the thing blew up and then flipping backwards to repel the shots of three more back at them.

In another place, Barriss was eager to prove that she was capable of being on this new team and had taken to the battle with an unusual will. A couple of the Death Watch members threw detonators at her but she caught them with the Force and sent them lancing towards the ceiling while blocking more shots with another hand. The detonators exploded and tore a huge chunk out of the ceiling which fell and landed on top of another three members of the Death Watch, including one who had thrown the detonators in the first place, while the other was swiftly put out of action by a hefty punch from a flying Gatomon.

* * *

"Alright," Taomon said with a smirk as she lowered her shield – nobody was paying attention to Lily anymore. "It's on." And she swept forwards to slam two more aside with her calligraphy brush and deftly paint a symbol on the chest of a third, which glowed and caused him to yell in pain as the light seared at him. A flurry of spell papers erupted out of one of Taomon's sleeves and swarmed a couple more, while she herself span around and raised her hand to form a Talisman Star symbol which she let fly with, slicing through the armour of some of the other members and causing them to drop to the floor, gasping for breath.

Lily grinned and was about to rush forward and add her own contribution to the battle when he heard a cry of "Lily!" from nearby. She whirled around, eyes widening as she saw Tai running from a nearby door towards her.

"You idiot! Get down!" Lily shouted, right as a Death Watch member turned around and saw him, wildly firing a shot at the leader of the Digi-destined. Tai's eyes widened and he dived to one side, but not fast enough, for the shot hit him straight in the leg and a cry of pain was ripped from his mouth as he fell to the ground. Lily was moving before she even knew what she was doing and as the Death Watch member took aim again he was promptly consumed in a blast of fire from Lily, one of the biggest that she had ever been able to produce. The star reached Tai's side moments later and dragged him behind a crate.

"What are you doing you numbskull!" she hissed. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Oh… you can talk," Tai winced. "I just… wanted to get to you. Make sure you were safe."

"And people say Mimi's the airhead you lunatic," Lily growled, but again before she knew was she was doing she'd given him a brief kiss on the mouth, before pulling away and looking embarrassed. "Er… ahem… you've _got_ to be more careful in future, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Tai.

Moments later the crate was heaved aside as a Death Watch member who had noticed them pointed his blaster pistol down at them, ready to fire. A split second before he could he was tossed aside by a Force-blast from Barriss as the Mirialan came over towards them.

"I saw you get hit," she said, bending over Tai. "Don't worry. Hold still, I can heal it."

"Look out!" Lily yelled as several more shots were sent their way but Ahsoka flipped in front of them and began parrying the shots away.

"Welcome to our kind of war," Ahsoka said as she parried the shots, while Barriss smiled gratefully and held her hands over Tai's leg and began to apply the healing process to it. "But you were supposed to stay in the ship with Henry and Rika, Tai."

"Try getting me to stay put when Lily's in a dangerzone," he grunted.

"It just doesn't work," Lily muttered, completely deadpan.

Barriss and Ahsoka chuckled slightly as Barriss finished healing Tai's leg. But then, a sudden yell that might Lily's blood freeze rattled around the room:-

"**CRIMSON LIGHTNING!"**

Ahsoka spun around and her eyes widened in shock as a blood-red whip of energy lashed down towards her and she barely managed to fling herself out of the way in time. But before she had time to do anything else, a caped figure shot overhead and let out a cruel smirk as it spread its cloak and cried:-

"**NIGHTMARE CLAW!"**

A large ethereal-looking ghostly bat seemed to surge out of nowhere right in front of him. Alarm bells went off in Ahsoka's head as she tried to dodge, but it just followed her and she tried to slash through it after that but her lightsaber didn't seem to affect it at all, right up until the point that it slammed into her torso. But it didn't knock her backwards. It just seemed to enter her body and Ahsoka cried out as her muscles seized up, her body turned the same blackish-blue of the bat shape and she keeled over, completely still, her lightsaber falling numbly to the floor beside her.

"Ahsoka!" shouted Barriss and dived away from Tai and Lily as the cloaked figure sent another lash of lightning down at her, seizing the paralysed Togruta in her arms and springing away, taking her into a roll and a skidding halt as the attack grazed the end of her own cloak.

The figure, which looked exactly like the IceMyotismon on Mygeeto except for the fact that its skin and hair was not white and its garments were slightly different, laughed almost maniacally and raised another Crimson Lightning as Barriss scrabbled upwards and turned to defend the paralysed Ahsoka.

But… "No!" Lily shouted and, as with many times already today she was up before she could really think about it and threw herself bodily at Myotismon. And she was not the only one. Gatomon had also seen what was going on and dashed in to try and help, and the both of them cannoned into him at the same time and knocked him askew, but didn't unduly injure him. But it did draw their attention away and Barriss quickly took advantage of this to move around Ahsoka and kneel down, holding her hands up and trying to heal whatever had been done to her.

"I should have guessed you had something to do with this," Lily muttered. "It explains why these guys came after me so quickly – you commissioned them to do it, didn't you?"

"I said that I would have you in my clutches by the end of the day, my pet," Myotismon smirked. "And I meant it."

"Lily," Tai gasped and tried to stand but his leg was still a little weak even though the injury had healed and he just collapsed onto his front. Fortunately Myotismon didn't look at him.

"I'm never going back with you," Lily hissed.

"Neither am I," Gatomon growled. "You've taken too much away from us, Myotismon and now you'll pay!"

Myotismon chuckled. "Amusing," he said. "But neither of you can ever hope to defeat…"

"Don't you DARE go into a monologue!" Lily shouted and hurled a fireball at him while Gatomon bounded forwards and slashed at him with her claws.

* * *

Not far away, Anakin and Pre Vizsla were locked in a furious combat with each other, lightsabers swinging in a confusing blur of black and blue. Both of them had grimaces etched into their faces as they ducked and wove. Anakin slashed twice at Vizsla's flank but the Mandalorian parried them both hurriedly and span the blade around to slice it towards Anakin's face, only for the Chosen One's blade to meet it before his nose and throw backwards.

Vizsla skidded to a halt and hurled himself into a whirling slash, propelled forward by his jetpack but Anakin sprang upwards to meet him and the two met in mid-air with their blades, the two swords crashing into each other as both pushed to try and overpower the other. Vizsla's jetpack gave him the advantage and with swords locked he surged towards the wall, pushing Anakin before him. Anakin growled and swung his legs up to allow him to hit the wall feet first instead and take his turn to push back, throwing Vizsla towards the ground.

Vizsla landed and rolled as Anakin sprang down after him and brought his blade crashing into the ground where he had just been, and the Mandalorian tried to bring his blade around to slash at Anakin's head but once again the blades clashed and locked instead of cutting through anything.

"Obi-Wan was right," grunted Anakin. "You do have surprising skill with that lightsaber despite the fact that you have no Force sensitivity."

"I am a master of this blade," Vizsla smirked. "Easily comparable to any number of Jedi, including the great Anakin Skywalker."

"Heh, is that so?" Anakin asked, pushing Vizsla away. "Well then, let's see what you're really capable of, shall we?"

Vizsla growled and went into a slashing spin that Anakin avoided by jumping straight up and hooking his feet over a pipe at the base of the walkway they were fighting beneath, allowing him to swing downwards like a giant axe with lightsaber under his head. Vizsla balked and flattened himself to the floor as Anakin flipped away and landed squarely behind him and span around to Force-push Vizsla into the wall and hold him there.

"You're not the only one with tricks," Vizsla grunted as he unleashed a torrent from his flamethrower towards Anakin's feet, forcing Anakin to spring backwards to avoid the jet of fire, so Vizsla could spring off the wall and ignite his jetpack to shoot forwards saber-first, seeking to impale Anakin with the boost of speed. Anakin responded by dropping flat onto his back so Vizsla shot overhead, but lashed up with one hand as he did so and grabbed the Mandalorian's ankle so that he was yanked into the air once again and trailed after him.

"Get off!" Vizsla yelled, slashing down at him.

"No chance!" Anakin parried the strike with his own saber even in mid-flight. He then grinned as he pushed the lightsaber away and tossed his own aside, before lunging out with his right arm, the mechanical one, to seize a post as it flashed by. Vizsla was pulled up short instantly by the Jedi attached to his ankle and was spun around the post until Anakin let him go and he crashed towards the ground, his jetpack sputtering out of life. Anakin bounded from the post and summoned his lightsaber back to him and dashed forwards.

Before Vizsla could blink, Anakin slashed through the hilt of his lightsaber and rendered it useless _and_ the controls on his wrist gauntlet. Vizsla tried to pull out his blaster but Anakin cut through that too and held his lightsaber to the defenceless former-governor's throat.

"You may be skilled with a blade," Anakin said. "But even you don't have the precision of a Jedi when it comes to using it."

* * *

Bo-Katan and Aayla were in the middle of an intense brawl with one another, hand to hand combat only and none of the other remaining Death Watch members were going to be interfering with a fight like that unless they hit Katan by mistake. The two of them were whirling and spinning and moving across one another in an almost mad dance of well-aimed strikes and well-executed dodges.

Katan caught to punches and a roundhouse kick from Aayla on her gauntlets and let off with a spinning roundhouse kick of her own, which Aayla avoided by leaning over so it passed over her face and coiling back upwards to slam both her fists down at Katan from above. Katan lashed up and blocked them both with one arm and aimed a punch at Aayla's gut with the other, but Aayla brought up her foot at an almost impossible angle so Katan punched the sole of her boot instead.

Katan recoiled, flexing her bruised knuckles and glowered at the Twi'lek through her helmet before springing up and slamming one fist in from the side and followed up with an enormous swinging kick to the midriff. Aayla turned the punch aside with a deft movement of her hands but she had to throw herself onto her shoulders to avoid the kick and then pushed herself onto her hands to spin a kick around at Katan. But the Mandalorian somehow managed to grab Aayla's ankle and hauled her over to land painfully on her back.

Katan flipped up with the aid of her jetpack and tried to double stamp her feet into Aayla's stomach, but quick as a flash Aayla brought her feet up to meet both of hers and launched her into the air again before springing up and jumping after her. The two traded several punches and kicks with one another even while they were airborne and when they came to land Katan hurled a fist right at Aayla's face. Aayla caught the blow in her hand and threw one of her own, which Katan caught in her own hand too.

The two pushed against one another briefly, glowering into one another's faces before Katan lunged forwards and smacked her head into Aayla's. Aayla reeled backwards slightly, the blow easily softened for Katan thanks to her helmet and Katan took advantage of the Twi'lek's momentary disorientation to pull back, kick her in the stomach and then uppercut her in the chin.

Aayla was thrown backwards but she still managed to turn the blow into a flip as she cradled her chin in one hand. Katan laughed derogatorily and lashed forwards to swing a fist but Aayla ducked under it and slammed both her palms into her stomach to send her flying backwards and sprang after her before she could regain her balance to kick her feet out from under her and deliver a hammer kick to her side that sent her rolling.

Aayla stepped closer to her but paused when she felt something beneath her boot, looking down to see a pair of binders lying on the floor – the same pair that Lily had slipped out of earlier. Aayla smirked as Katan got to her feet and rushed her. Aayla rushed to meet her, summoning the binders into her hand as she did so and slid under the kick that Katan aimed at her face. Katan spun around with a punch but Aayla was already up and whirled past her again like a dancer, lashing one arm down to fasten one cuff on the binder around Katan's wrist in mid-punch, then let go and jumped clear.

Katan didn't notice and tried another spinning round-house kick but Aayla sprang up even higher and flipped overhead, seizing the enemy woman's jetpack as she did and tearing it from her back. As the two landed, Aayla turned and grabbed Katan by her free wrist, heaving her around to slam her back-first into a pole before stepping behind the pole and fastening the wrist into the other cuff of the binders.

"Huh?" Katan blinked, when she realised what had happened and began jerking and thrashing on her cuffed wrists with furious abandon, but the binders held her wrists firmly behind her back and the pole. "Hey! What are you doing? Release me at once!"

Aayla smiled at her, taking off the Mandalorian's helmet and patting her on the cheek. "Don't worry. I'll take them off when it's time to put you in a prison cell."

* * *

Even though most of the other Mandalorians had seen their leader and his best lieutenant defeated by the Jedi right in front of them, they were not about to give up so easily. They were bold warriors and certainly were not cowards – they upheld the values of their ancestors and they were not going to go down just yet… but there numbers had already been severely depleted and with Katan now bound to a pole Aayla could join the main battle. The remaining members of the Death Watch were pushed back under the assault from the Twi'lek and both of the fox Digimon working together with one another.

A couple of them did decided that it wasn't worth it and decided to get the heck out of there. Fortunately there seemed to be a big hole in the ceiling from the hole the grenades had made earlier so they sprang up with their jetpacks and motored out of the hole, soaring for the open sky.

And then, when they did get outside, they noticed the clouds of smoke in the distance where all of their ships were meant to be.

"What the…!" cried one of them.

"What's going on?" yelled the other.

"Uh, that would be us," Rapidmon said as he appeared out of nowhere and slammed one of them so hard in the chest that he was shot back into the roof hard enough to put a dent in it and knocked out immediately. The other balked at the sight of the cyborg bunny and tried to veer away, only to be seized from behind and spun around to stare into the burning eyes of WarGreymon.

"Uh…" he stammered.

"Sleep," WarGreymon said, removing the man's helmet with one hand and then smacking him over the head with it, knocking him out.

"Well, I guess that proves why we don't mess with WarGreymon. He hits you over the head with your own armour," Rapidmon snickered.

"Oh shut up," WarGreymon muttered.

* * *

That left only one major brawl going down below, and that was with Gatomon and Lily fighting against Myotismon. And it was a particularly one-sided battle. And not in the favour of the pair.

Myotismon laughed cruelly as he swatted Gatomon aside yet again with a wave of his hand, not even looking like he was trying to take this seriously and then lifting up his cloak like a shield against several fireballs from Lily – his cloak seemed to take the hits with no problem whatsoever, as if it wasn't even made of fabric.

"When will you ever learn that it is futile to face me?" Myotismon crowed. "You have never been able to get it into your head all these, have you, my pet."

"Don't… CALL ME THAT!" Lily yelled and formed a beam of light in her hands above her head and made ready to strike out at Myotismon with it, but he just lashed out with his hands and curled a Crimson Lightning around those wrists, eliciting a scream as it burned into her skin before she was pulled off her feet and hit the ground hard.

"Lily!" Gatomon grunted, pushing herself upwards again and dashing in to slash her claws at Myotismon's outstretched arm. Myotismon jerked around and hauled Lily through the air and right at Gatomon, forcing the cat to withdraw her outstretched claws before she impaled the star and resulting in a collision that knocked them both to the floor.

"And you Gatomon, you are no different," sneered Myotismon, raising the Lightning. "You were once loyal, but now you have become as thick-headed as her. Is this what happens when you become good? You lose all your senses in the bargain?" And he lashed out at the pair of them again.

Lily quickly moved over Gatomon and braced her back for the impact, biting her lip so hard to keep from screaming as the lightning lashed it that she almost drew blood. Gatomon stared up at her with wide eyes, stunned that she would do something like that for her already. But she had no time to think on it because Myotismon suddenly seized Lily by the back of her shirt.

"Fools, the both of you," he said, hoisting Lily into the air, and raising his hand to generate an orb of dark energy to aim down at Gatomon. "But you, I have no further use for, Gatomon."

Gatomon snarled. "Put Lily down!" she hissed and suddenly her tail ring glowed with a furious light. Myotismon, blinded, reeled back and covered his face with his cloak, allowing Lily time to pool her own light attack into the bargain and blow Myotismon back briefly while simultaneously freeing herself and dropping to the ground. She winced painfully but she merely growled and stood back up slowly.

"Come on, Gatomon," Lily said. "If we work together, we can do this."

"Right," Gatomon nodded, leaping up as Lily seized her in her hands and flung her towards Myotismon. "It ends today!" she cried as she flew across the gap.

"Yes, it does!" Lily growled, a furious energy boiling up inside her at the thought of everything this guy had done to her. "It does."

"Indeed," Myotismon suddenly said, lashing out the kick Gatomon aside and send her crashing into a pillar nearby. "It does end. Today is the day that I take back what is mine."

"Never!" Lily cried and unleashed all the power she had left at once, generating a lightning bolt out of thin air that lanced towards Myotismon with ruthless precision. Myotismon blanched, surprised, but swiftly acted and unleashed a swarm of his bats, which flew forwards and crashed into the attack, being obliterated in the process but halting the lightning before it could hit him. Lily gasped, spent and wondering if the attack worked but the lash of Crimson the appeared out of the smoke and wrapped around her waist told her the answer was no. Painfully.

She screamed as she was pulled off her feet again and hauled her towards the smirking vampire. It was a scream that echoed around the room and drew the attention of everyone, including Taomon, who hadn't noticed until that point that Myotismon was even in the room. When she turned and saw what was going on, she gasped in shock and cried, "LILY!" and shot towards where Myotismon had just seized Lily by the throat.

"You are mine again," Myotismon sneered, forcing Lily's chin up with one finger so their eyes were forced to lock, a cruel leer on his face. "And we will be taking our leave now."

"No," Lily gasped.

Gatomon was pushing herself to her feet again but breathing hard as Myotismon began to back out of the room. Taomon was rushing towards the two but would not make it in time. Barriss gritted her teeth as she looked up from healing Ahsoka and decided enough was enough and prepared to abandon the job uncompleted and charge forwards.

But the one who acted was Tai. For a couple of minutes ago, he had noticed Ahsoka's lightsaber lying on the ground uselessly and he crawled towards it, hoping to use it to do something stupid and courageous to help defend Lily. But his leg was still raw so he knew he'd never be able to catch her. So instead he yelled, "Lily! Catch!" and hurled the thing.

Myotismon blinked and looked up at the flying thing heading towards him, recognising it as one of the laser swords these strange people used. "Futile," he said, as he reached his hand out to catch it instead.

Gatomon moved like lightning, seizing the chance and sprang forwards with a furious frenzied slash of her claws and this time she hit her mark slashing three lines in Myotismon's outstretched wrist. Myotismon yelled and reflexively recoiled in pain, and in a spur of last second energy, Lily seized the lightsaber. She had no idea how the thing worked but the big red button was a promising start and without a second's hesitation, she jammed the business end against Myotismon's chest and pushed the button, Ahsoka's green blade erupting outwards through Myotismon's chest.

Myotismon choked and gasped, eyes shooting open wide as his Digi-core was pierced by the humming blade and it shot through his body and out the back of his cloak.

"Yeah," Lily smirked. "That just happened."

Myotismon let loose a scream of pure rage for exactly half a second before he burst into data on the spot, Lily falling to the floor and the lightsaber clattering into a deactivated state beside her. Scarcely able to believe what she had just done, Lily watched the data floating upwards and away, Taomon drawing to a halt behind her to do the same and Gatomon practically slack-jawed on the floor nearby.

They did it.

Myotismon was dead.

At last.

A sudden black hole appeared in the air behind the data and sucked it straight through, revealing the silhouette of a jackal-humanoid Digimon with wings and a smirk. "I bet you're quite pleased with that aren't you?" Anubimon said. "And don't worry. I'll make sure that your friend Wizardmon's Digi-Egg is sent to the Primary Village as soon as the Dark Masters are beaten. Well done, little star."

And then the portal vanished.

Lily gasped in astonishment, tears filling her eyes as she turned back to Tai, who was grinning at her. "Thanks for the assist," she said.

"No problem," Tai grinned. "It's what I'm here for."

"And thanks for the help there too, Gatomon," Lily said.

"It was my pleasure."

"He's… he's really gone?" Taomon murmured as Barriss helped Ahsoka, who she had managed to unparalyse, back upwards.

"Yep. He's gone," Lily said. "At last! It's… **OVER!**"

Her shout rang through the room, catching the attention of the dozen or so remaining members of the Death Watch who were still on their feet. They blanched when they saw that even the powerful being they had thought would be their bonus had been beaten, but still they did not back down. Kyubimon turned to face them and smirked, dodging another blaster bolt and calling, "Oh Rapidmon. Would you be a dear and come and help us mop up the last of these guys?"

Moments later, Rapidmon crashed straight through the fragile roof and aimed his cannons at the Death Watch who had bunched together. "Do you need me to tell you what I can do with these?" he asked.

The Death Watch faltered again, but while a couple of them were contemplating shooting their own missiles at this new thing something else thundered through the roof and slammed into the floor right behind them. They whirled around and stared at WarGreymon in disbelief, then even more disbelief as he formed a full-size Terra Force and raised it above his head, filling the room from floor to ceiling with the huge thing.

"Don't bother," he said.

The Death Watch all dropped their weapons. Proud warriors they may be… but they weren't going to mess with _that!_

"Well," said Anakin. "I guess this means we win."

Vizsla growled. Bo-Katan kept screaming for release as she thrashed at her binders futilely."

"You know," Lily said, as Taomon helped her to her feet and Tai stumbled over so the two of them could support each other. "I could do with a snack right about now."

* * *

The clean-up operation went surprisingly smoothly. Aayla called Bly and the other members of the 327th, who were disappointed at missing the action but understood the need for discretion in this case. The Death Watch members were rounded up and secured under the watchful eye of WarGreymon and marched into the gunships that had been discretely transferred down to the planet's surface. Every one of these people had seen the Digimon, so the Jedi Council, when they heard the news, decreed that they would be taken to a separate prison facility in the outer Rim, far from reach of the Senate, and nobody would, for now, be told that the Death Watch had been defeated. They would have to explain exactly what the A-Team _and_ the Death Watch had been doing on Ord Biniir if they did.

Vizsla and Bo-Katan were the last to be loaded onto the gunships, the latter screaming curses at all Twi'leks and the former all Jedi, before they too were whisked away, leaving only the Jedi, Tai and Lily, the Digimon who all digivolved to their lower levels, and Henry and Rika, who had joined them shortly after they'd won.

"Well, I guess that's that," said Henry. "You guys beat Myotismon at long last and you have a Mega Digimon on your side. Um… out of curiosity what else did you guys manage to achieve while we were gone."

"Joe and Mimi managed to get their Digimon to the Ultimate level," Tai said. "And Matt reached the Mega at the same time I did."

"Ah, that's great," Henry smiled, turning to Rika, who winked at him. Then his face fell and he said, "But… how are you guys going to get home now?"

Tai grimaced. "No clue," he said. "I guess we can only hope for a miracle this time. Wait, there's no giant gate that can take us back to our world if we figure out which cards to use is there?"

"No," said Henry and Rika, deadpan.

Lily lightly swatted Tai on the arm. "So, what? We're stranded here?"

"Looks like it," said Rika's Renamon. "After all, so are we. We found ourselves in your world by sheer accident and got back through forces unknown."

"Well," Lily said. "That's a bummer, but as long as I've got Renamon… and Tai… with me, nothing else matters," she smiled, her cheeks colouring a little.

Tai coloured a little bit too.

"Let's not mention this to any Taiora fans if we do get back home," muttered Henry.

"Let's not mention it, period," Rika said.

"Well, you're welcome to stay with us," Aayla smiled. "I'm sure that the Jedi Council would be more than willing to…"

Suddenly a huge twisted hole appeared in the middle of the room, just like with Anubimon's earlier, but much larger. It generated a powerful wind that swirled about the room and forced everyone in it to shield their eyes instinctively.

Moments later, there was a voice, calling out from nearby.

"Lily! Lily! LILY!"

Lily lowered her arm and stared in shock, which then became amazement, which then became joy. When everyone else lowered their arms, they started backwards in shock, and it stayed shock. For on the other side of the portal, they could see…

"HOLY CRAP!" Terriermon yelled.

"What's happening?" Renamon bristled her fur on edge. "It can't be."

"Dad!" Lily yelled.

"DAD!" cried Terriermon, Renamon, Henry and Rika.

For on the other side of the portal, standing tall and proudly and noticeably anxious, was a tall Beelzemon with large wings and a long, whip-like tail, like their Beelzemon in many ways. But there was also a small angel boy with numerous wings, a tall woman in black leather, a horned man wrapped in a cloak and hood, another man with a long beard and a hooked nose, a large teddy bear that appeared to be asleep and a HUGE red crocodile that could be seen at the back trying to get a better view through the small portal.

"The Seven Great Demon Lords," breathed Renamon.

"And DAD!" yelled Terriermon.

"Yeah, this is my family," grinned Lily. "Alexander's my long-lost father or something like that," she pointed at the Beelzemon.

"Excuse me? Alexander? WHAT?" Terriermon yelled.

"Lily!" the Beelzemon, Alexander, shouted. "You have to come quickly. We received the call from your friend Izzy about what went wrong with the portal machine so we decided to fetch you in person, but I don't know how long we can keep the portal open. You have to come quickly or you could be stranded there for much longer."

"The Digital World is in dire straits," Lucemon said. "You guys will be needed very badly… like, now! Come on, come on, let's get moving."

"Wow, she's really grown bigger, hasn't she?" Lilithmon said. "And I still remember the day you were running around our mansion with no clothes on."

"Seriously, not now Lilithmon," Daemon muttered. "Come on, quick! I made cookies!"

"Eh?" Terriermon said, slowly going brain-dead.

"Come on, child. Time is money!" Barbamon declared. "And money is precious."

"Seriously, shut up, Barbamon," said the giant Leviamon in a voice that clearly demonstrated that…

"LEVIAMON'S A GIRL!" Terriermon screeched.

His shout woke up the teddy bear, which transformed into a huge, raging, bear-like monster with sweeping horns that yelled, "RRRAAAAAGGGHHH! WHERE'S THE BATTLE?"

"There isn't one, Belphemon," Lucemon said patiently.

"Oh. Okay," said Belphemon. "Hey is that Lily?"

"Excuse me while I go and bang my head against a wall," Terriermon muttered.

"Momentai," Lily said.

"Pardon?" Barbamon asked, though Terriermon was too gone to care.

"Oh, it means 'take it easy,'" said Lily.

"I like it," Lucemon grinned. "Short and slightly amusing. I might use that."

"Oh dear Yggdrasil," Lily muttered. "Well," she said, turning to the others. "Seriously, thank you for everything. For finding me and helping us out against those Death Watch guys. And for the laser sword for me to use," she nodded to the Jedi. "I wish I could say more, but we gotta go. Now."

"Um… we understand," Henry muttered, still staring in disbelief at the Demon Lords in the portal.

"Go," said Anakin. "We won't delay you anymore. Get moving."

"And no offence, but let's hope we don't meet again," Ahsoka chuckled. "We've already had all the madness we can stand."

"Amen," said Lily's Renamon as she, Tai, Lily, Gatomon and Agumon all leapt into the portal, Lily being caught in Alexander's arms and Tai landing in front of Lucemon, who eyeballed him.

"So," he said. "You're the one who's caught the attention of our Lily, huh?"

"Oh, he looks cute," Lilithmon gushed. Tai gulped.

"Oh Lord," Daemon sighed. "Why do I get the feeling this isn't going to turn out well?"

"Should I step on him?" offered Belphemon.

"I can't see him. Let me through," the female Leviamon protested.

"Um… help?" Tai asked, but then the portal closed, sealing the offworlders away for the last time.

"Seriously," Terriermon asked. "Did that just happen?"

"Yes," said Renamon. "Yes it did."

"Ah," Terriermon said. "Can somebody help me find my sanity?"

* * *

Well, that's that. There won't be any more oneshots after this for at least another one-hundred chapters from both stories and I, right now, am DRAINED. Oneshots are always harder for me to write than the official story, which is why they take up more time than a regular chapter as well. Sorry about that everyone. Hopefully I can get back on the saddle and write lots more soon, though I do have an exam on the 7th I must revise for so updates will still be slow until then.

Fergus Flamacron, signing off.


End file.
